Bundesliga: Kovac leads the first training session in Wolfsburg

The new head coach Niko Kovac led the team training at VfL Wolfsburg for the first time on Wednesday morning.

At the official training start of the Bundesliga soccer club after two days of performance tests, however, numerous national players such as Lukas Nmecha or the newcomers Patrick Wimmer (Arminia Bielefeld) and Jakub Kaminski (Lech Posen) were missing after their international trips.

After a disappointing twelfth place last season, Wolfsburg want to play for the Europa League or even Champions League places under Kovac again. “VfL has always been a club with big ambitions. We want to continue these ambitions, »said the former coach of Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and most recently AS Monaco in France at his presentation. “We are here to be able to be there again internationally.”

The VfL squad will change before the first Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen on August 6th or 7th. The Italian Mattia Viti (FC Empoli) and the Portuguese David Carmo (SC Braga) are under discussion as reinforcements for the central defence. After the departure of Xaver Schlager (RB Leipzig), the Wolfsburg are also looking for a player for central midfield. The “Bild” newspaper linked the club to ex-Dortmunder Jeremy Toljan (US Sassuolo) because right-back Kevin Mbabu apparently wants to leave Lower Saxony.

The two Swiss Mbabu and Renato Steffen are among a number of possible departures in Wolfsburg. This also applies to five players who were loaned out to other clubs last season and are now training again at VfL for the time being: ex-captain Josuha Guilavogui (Girondins Bordeaux), Elvis Rexhbecaj (VfL Bochum), Omar Marmoush (VfB Stuttgart) as well as the two Croatian internationals Josip Brekalo (FC Torino) and Marin Pongracic (Borussia Dortmund).