Bundesliga January 2026 Transfer Primers | VfL Wolfsburg | OneFootball

The next of our 18 Bundesliga transfer primers to be published here on Get German Football News covers VfL Wolfsburg. Not unlike Hoffenheim, Germany’s green company team have done well to pull themselves out of an administrative crisis and get back on track. The hiring of former Bayern scout and Eintracht Frankfurt sporting executive Pirmin Schwegler counts as quite the coup. Newly installed permanent head coach Daniel Bauer also seems to have the support of the team. 

The Lower Saxon “Autostädter” still face a familiar set of problems. As has been the case since the European drought began nearly four years ago, the squad remains poorly balanced. Bauer’s attempts to implement a simple and consistent system (He is the first Wolfsburg coach since Oliver Glasner to utilize the same starting XI in three consecutive matches) helps a tad, but the manner in which Bauer’s 4-2-3-1 fell apart against SC Freiburg lays bare the inherent issues with the tactical construct. 

Many Germans find it difficult to maintain interest in Wolfsburg. In the current context, that’s something of a shame as where this team is headed in the New Year does intrigue. Back down to the relegation race? A potential contender for the Conference League playoff spot? Prognosticating is next to impossible. The author will nevertheless give it a go and aver that Bauer won’t be leading the team back to Europe. Some signs of a solid foundation exist, but there’s too many question marks. 

VfL Wolfburg

We weren’t very far off with the pre-season check here. 

Winter Predictions Check, VfL Wolfsburg

Predicted Table Position – 13th place

Actual Table Position – 14th place, 15 points

(4-W, 3-D, 8-L)

(-5 G-Diff)

Wolfsburg’s goal differential does at least reveal that the SImonis and Bauer teams often kept themselves in matches right up until the very end. The stretch during October – in which Simonis’ Wölfe were blanked by VfB Stuttgart in the league and Holstein Kiel in the Pokal – left one feeling as if something halfway decent was budding within the team. In between the Stuttgart and Kiel losses, there was a thoroughly undeserved win against Hamburger SV. In all three cases, it appeared as if the result produced the absolute inverse of how well the team played. 

The recent wins against Union Berlin and Borussia Mönchengladbach were unequivocally deserved. Of monumental import, the attack clicked beautifully on both flanks. Aaron Zehnter and Patrick Wimmer got the triangles right on the left while new permanent signing Saël Kumbedi and the much maligned Christian Eriksen got it rolling on the right. Eriksen’s long delayed rise helps the VWers out immensely. Prior to his recent emergence, the Dane served as the biggest transfer flop of the season. Danish managing director Peter Christiansen must be breathing the biggest sigh of relief possible.

Autumn Transfer Assessment, VfL Wolfsburg

Estimated Summer Transfer Balance = -€10.5m

Our last primer covered Germany’s red company team. When discussing Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the author simply has to report that the club never has much of a worry for finances due to the fact that they are bankrolled by an enormous multi-billion-Euro global pharmaceutical conglomerate. Leverkusen have no care to spare when in comes to money. Neither does Dietmar Hopp’s Hoffenheim or Austria’s German RB affiliate. Things are actually very different in this company town. The German Auto manufacturer backing this team has its own problems. Volkswagen’s pockets are not infinitely deep. 

We witnessed how limited the pursestrings can be this summer when, for example, Christiansen found himself unable to pay top dollar for former Werder Bremen and current Norwich City striker Josh Sargent. A number of other late transfers fell through when other clubs falsely assumed they could bilk Wolfsburg for more money. It was such that late additions like Kumbedi, Jenson Seelt, Jesper Lindstrøm, and Adam Daghim were all procured on loan. In three of these four occasions, Christiansen still had to fork out loan fees to make it happen. 

The fact that Eriksen and Kumbedi (who also got off to a delayed start) are making up for lost ground now renders Christiansen’s hitherto awful summer transfer something closer to a success. One must still note that there’s a large cohort of failures. Two other Danes haven’t been able to make an impact. After getting off to a rollicking start, attacker Adam Daghim tanked sharply and then got injured. Public bone problems (among the worst type of injuries a footballer can suffer) have completely sidelined Jesper Lindstrøm. The former Frankfurt star has seen just ten minutes of action all year. 

Looking back on the Lindstrøm deal, and indeed two other “impactful summer transfers” the author totally got wrong in a total shit piece written a few months back, it’s all obvious in hindsight. Signing a player with a rough recent injury history sets one up to fail. Wolfsburg management knew full well that Lindstrøm had groin problems and might not be able to play.  On the topic of injuries, this team could have seriously done without the one suffered by Denis Vavro. On the other hand, the club was extremely lucky that the Kilian Fischer one turned out to be a be a blessing in disguise for Kumbedi and Eriksen. 

One can basically label the Seelt and Zehnter deals “good gets”. Despite losing his spark and his starting place, Zehnter is back and living up to his early season promise. Seelt now serves as a regular starter and turned in some really spectacular defensive performances lately in place of the pouty Moritz Jenz. The author still doesn’t like the way in which VfL management handled the David Odogu situation. Why neglect a promising young prospect who could have really helped out? Wolfsburg also messed up by allowing solid attackers like Tiago Tomas, Vaclav Cerny, and Jakub Kaminski to depart.

Sigh. We must discuss Vinicius Souza. What a totally misguided transfer this was! Why spend €15m on a defensive-minded midfielder when the squad already possessed three of them in the form of Maximilian Arnold, Mattias Svanberg, and Yannick Gerhardt? Attempts to turn Souza into an attacker have failed miserably. The proverbial “square peg in a round hole” still has plenty of time to turn things around “Eriksen style”, but one simply cannot see how it works out positionally for Souza.

Dead Weight Ledger and Expiring Contracts, VfL Wolfsburg

It shouldn’t prove too terribly difficult to find a taker for Jenz, or find a developmental loan locale for young center back Mathys Angely. If Christiansen and Schwegler can divine some sort of solution for the Rogerio situation, that would constitute quite the score. Interest in the injured Brazilian surely isn’t great. The same applies to the most significant player on an expiring contract. Sadly, another surgical may mean that young American attacker Kevin Paredes just isn’t meant to be playing football.

Dead-Weight Ledger = Rogerio (LB), Mathys Angely (CB), Moritz Jenz (CB) 

Yannick Gerhardt’s return to prominence ought to yield a contract extension for the 31-year-old “club man”. The fact is that Gerhardt and his fellow “club man” Maximilian Arnold were meant to work the midfield double-six together. Arnold and Gerhardt, as noted above, leave no place for Souza in this midfield. Is it too early to consider selling the former Sheffield man? One hopes that it’s never too late to sell Jonas Wind. Good lord. Bundesliga beat reporters simply can’t take writing any more Wind outgoing transfer stories at this point.

Get him the hell out of here! 

Expiring contracts =  Pavao Pervan (GK), Kevin Paredes (LM), Yannick Gerhardt (CM), Jonas Wind (CF)

Further Needs and Rumored Links, VfL Wolfsburg

Not too much reliable churning in the rumor mills when it comes to this particular club. With a Niclas Füllkrug pick-up out of the picture, it’s not exactly clear how Christiansen and Schwegler will find their sought-after striker. Rumors linking Scottish midfielder Josh Mulligan with a move to the German Wolves appear to have some weight to them. Phrew. Naturally, the absolute last thing this team needs is another midfielder. One wouldn’t mind if the front office simply stood pat and avoided further unbalancing this roster. 

Further Needs = LB, CB, RB, RM, ATTM, RW, CF

Rumored Links = Josh Mulligan (RM), Alessandro Vogt (CF), Younes Ebnoutalib (CF), Mathys Detourbet (CF)

GGFN | Peter Weis