Who will be the new sporting director at VfL Wolfsburg? The Andreas Schicker case has not deterred the club from contacting candidates who are under contract.
If everything had gone according to plan, VfL Wolfsburg would already have its new sporting director and successor to the dismissed Sebastian Schindzielorz. Andreas Schicker was the chosen candidate, who would have come from TSG Hoffenheim had his parent club not vetoed the move. With the surprising rejection from Sinsheim, the search for other candidates gained momentum.
Kind confirms VfL’s interest in manager Mann
Hardly a day goes by without a new name popping up. Interest in Marcus Mann, currently managing director at VfL’s Lower Saxony rivals Hannover 96, is now confirmed. However, these were promised by Wolfsburg. Supervisory board boss Martin Kind confirmed to BILD on Wednesday: “This morning, Mr. Mann told me that Wolfsburg wants to sign him. However, no one from VfL Wolfsburg has contacted me yet.“ Kind emphasizes that negotiations are pointless because ”we want to keep Mr. Mann.”
The situation with Johannes Spors is similar to that of the 96 manager. Born in Heidelberg, Spors has been working as technical director at Premier League relegation side FC Southampton since February this year. However, there have been no concrete talks so far. And even in this case, it would not be clear whether the eleventh-placed Championship club would let its manager leave at all. The name Nils-Ole Book (Elversberg) also keeps cropping up in Wolfsburg circles. The successful sporting director, who recently extended his contract with the Saarland club, has at least been discussed at VfL recently. It is not clear whether contact has been made.
In which case Wohlgemuth and Boldt would leave
There is a catch with most of the candidates anyway: if VfL really does stick with managing director Peter Christiansen, many cannot imagine a move to Wolfsburg, or only with very clearly defined responsibilities. Candidates such as Fabian Wohlgemuth (sporting director at VfB Stuttgart) or former Hamburg player Jonas Boldt are out of the running anyway if “only” a sporting director is being sought.
To the surprise of many, VfL has not yet shaken Christiansen, who was allowed to release his coach Paul Simonis and sporting director Schindzielorz. And, according to reports, he is at least involved in the search for a sporting director. However, the negotiations are being led by supervisory board boss Sebastian Rudolph and his deputy Hans Dieter Pötsch. The experience with Schicker has not deterred them from trying again with candidates who would have to be released from their current contracts.