VfL Wolfsburg are under significant pressure to reduce their squad of 34 professionals before the transfer window closes this coming Tuesday. Sporting director Dieter Hecking must sell or loan out players to ease the wage bill and account for the financially strained situation of club owner Volkswagen.

Centre-backs Moritz Jenz and Denis Vavro are at the top of the list of players set to depart. Both have informed the club of their desire to leave and have consequently been excluded from first-team training. Brazilian defender Cleiton Santana dos Santos, who has not played a single competitive minute since his arrival nine months ago, could also leave the club.

Further Players Facing Exit

Allowed to train but also with uncertain futures are Belgian midfielder Aster Vranckx and Algerian striker Mohamed Amoura. Both are available for transfer if suitable offers arrive. There is particular speculation surrounding Amoura, for whom Wolfsburg paid nearly €15 million in 2024. The striker is linked with interest from the Bundesliga and Saudi Arabia, with any fee for the second-division side unlikely to be nominal.

Hecking has already acted successfully as a seller in this transfer period. The move of Dzenan Pejcinovic to VfB Stuttgart brought in around €25 million, Konstantinos Koulierakis joined AS Roma for approximately €17 million, and Patrick Wimmer moved to TSG Hoffenheim for €10 million. The club has recorded a significant transfer surplus. Eight players have been sold or loaned out, with seven others leaving on free transfers. The nine new signings, including Fabian Reese from Hertha BSC and Alexander Bernhardsson from Holstein Kiel, also cost money, but for the first time in years, business has been conducted with more prudence.

Manager Tobias Strobl and Hecking focused on footballing quality and proven mentality when assembling the squad. This calculation has paid off so far: the team has taken four points from its first two second-division matches and advanced to the second round of the DFB-Pokal after a narrow penalty shootout win against VSG Altglienicke. The next challenge is demanding: on Saturday at 1 p.m., Wolfsburg face Karlsruher SC, a team also on four points. "They are a very exciting team with a visible identity," said Strobl about KSC.

The match in Karlsruhe will be a benchmark for whether Strobl's team, convincing in fight but still needing refinement in play, can consolidate its form. KSC's squad, in contrast to Wolfsburg's 34, comprises just 25 players, a more appropriate size for the second tier.