Football Season Guide

Wolfsburg

In


Rogerio (def) Sassuolo; Vaclav Cerny (mid) Twente FC; Moritz Jenz (def) FC Lorient; Tiago Tomas (att) Sporting CP; Cedric Zesiger (def) BSC Young Boys; Aster Vranckx (mid) AC Milan - end of loan; Maximilian Philipp (att) SV Werder Bremen - end of loan; Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (def) NAC Breda - end of loan; Ulysses Llanez (mid) SKN St.Polten - end of loan;

Out


Micky van de Ven (def) Tottenham Hotspur; Felix Nmecha (mid) (r) Borussia Dortmund; Marin Pongracic (def) US Lecce; Tim Siersleben (def) FC Heidenheim; Omar Marmoush (att) (sp) Eintracht Frankfurt; Paulo Otavio (def) (r) Al-Saad SC; Fabio Di Michele Sanchez (def) FC Saarbrucken; Bryang Kayo (mid) FC Ingolstadt; Yun-sang Hong (mid) Pohang Steelers; Luca Waldschmidt (att) (sp) FC Koln - on loan; Bartosz Bialek (att) KAS Eupen - on loan; Joshua Guilavogui (mid) (sp) released;

Nico Kovac's first season in charge finished with Wolfsburg just missing out on a European place. Whilst there were improvements overall, The Wolves were too inconsistent in the latter stages of the campaign. Kovac and the club believe they are moving in the right direction but there have been a lot of changes to the playing staff during the summer. A total of £70 million has come from the sales of van de Ven and Felix Nmecha but their loss will be felt in both defence and midfield. Wolfsburg have so far invested the money wisely with five new faces brought in. Three of those are in defence with the most poignant being Moritz Jenz from Lorient. The Frenchman massively improved the Schalke backline on loan last season and has proved that he can handle the demands of the division. The departure of left-back Otavio has also been addressed with the purchase of another Brazilian, Rogerio. Coming from the Italian Serie A, he should be well-nurtured defensively and will also offer pace up and down the wing. The area of concern for Wolfsburg could be in central midfield after the loss of Nmecha. The club have yet to strengthen in this area, Vrancx is looking likely to leave, while Arnold, Svanberg, and Gerhardt were inconsistent in the last campaign. The Wolves have plenty of attacking options at their disposal, especially if Lukas Nmecha can stay injury-free this term. The addition of the lively and skillful Tiago Tomas and winger Vaclav Cerny, who recorded 13 goals and 11 assists in the Dutch League last season, should make Wolfsburg a dangerous proposition going forward.

Target


Wolfsburg will be looking to take the next step forward under Kovac so European qualification and a decent cup run should be the minimum requirement.