VfL Wolfsburg 2026/27 Season Preview: Transfers, pre-season, predicted lineup and expectations | OneFootball

Following a sixteenth-place finish on the final day of the regular season, followed by a defeat in the relegation playoff to SC Paderborn 07, VfL Wolfsburg are playing in 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football, for the first time since the 1996/97 season.

With such a demotion, the club has been in a partial rebuilding process during the summer transfer window - but at the same time, have shown that they are still very invested in chasing promotion back to the top level. Under recently-hired Tobias Strobl - their fifth head coach in a fifteen-month span - the Wölfe will need their new signings to perform as expected to make their absence from the Bundesliga very short.

PRESEASON PERFORMANCES

VfL Wolfsburg opened their 2026/27 preseason campaign against local amateur side FSV Schöningen, running rampant in an 8-2 victory on 11. July. This was followed by a home match against Strobl’s former side, SC Verl - a 3-0 victory on the following Saturday.

Despite losing to Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais by an 0-2 result, the Wölfe managed to finish their campaign with a positive record, defeating Eredivisie side SC Telstar by a 3-1 result with a dominant first half that saw goals from new signings Alessio Besio (2) and Robert Glatzel.

TRANSFERS

With a limited budget, VfL Wolfsburg were able to secure seven contracts to make up for the subsequent departures - most of which played for teams in 2. Bundesliga last season. German winger Fabian Reese was the most expensive, acquired from Hertha BSC for €8 million; following him on the list is German attacking midfielder Muhammed Damar, from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for a sum of €5.5 million.

Scottish centre-forward Fraser Hornby was acquired from SV Darmstadt 98 for €4 million, followed by German centre-back Hauke Wahl from FC St. Pauli for €1.8 million. German centre-forward Robert Glatzel was acquired from Hamburger SV for €1.7 million; Dutch goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther was acquired from SC Feyenoord for €1 million; and rounding out the list was Swiss-Spanish centre-forward Alessio Besio, who arrived from the SC Freiburg reserves for €700 000.

Three players returned from loans at the start of July, and were with the team during their preseason campaign. 19-year-old French-Martinican centre-back Mathys Angély arrived from Belgian side RSC Anderlecht; 23-year-old Belgian midfielder Aster Vranckx arrived from Serie A club US Sassuolo; and 20-year-old Polish defensive midfielder Eryk Grzywacz arrived from 1. FC Nürnberg.

Additionally, a few players from the academy promoted to the professional level, signing their first-team contracts over the summer. These players are 19-year-old German left-back Elia Dittrich, 19-year-old German centre-back Till Neininger, 19-year-old German-Nigerian winger Trevor Benedict, and 19-year-old Finnish winger Bruno Katz. Dittrich has since been loaned to Regionalliga Südwest club Eintracht Trier, and Neininger to 2. Bundesliga side SG Dynamo Dresden.

German goalkeeper Marius Müller left for Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen FC, with the transfer fee undisclosed. The most expensive departure was Greek centre-back Konstantinos Koulierakis, who went to AS Roma for a fee of €16.5 million. Austrian winger Patrick Wimmer left for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for €10 million; Croatian attacking midfielder Lovro Majer joined AEK Athens for €6 million; Polish winger Jakub Kamiński departed for 1. FC Köln for €5.5 million, then joined SL Benfica just six days later; and Croatian centre-back Bartol Franjić signed with Venezia FC for €1.25 million.

Two players left on free transfers, following the expiry of their contracts. Danish centre-forward Jonas Wind, who played five seasons in Wolfsburg, moved to SC Braga, while American midfielder Kevin Paredes signed with FC Utrecht. French-Italian centre-back Nicolas Cozza also saw his contract expire, but is still yet to find a club at the moment.

Danish winger Andreas Skov Olsen is on loan to another club once again, this time to İstanbul Başakşehir after a few months at Rangers FC. Four loan contracts also expired at the end of June: French-Guadaloupean centre-back Jeanuël Belocian returned to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Dutch centre-back Jenson Seelt returned to Sunderland AFC; Danish winger Jesper Lindstrøm returned to SSC Napoli; and Danish winger Adam Daghim returned to RB Salzburg, then joined Wimmer at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim soon after.

PREDICTED STARTING LINEUP

4-3-1-2: Wellenreuther - Mæhle, Wahl, Angély, Kumbedi - Damar, Souza, Rexhbecaj - Besio - Hornby, Glatzel.

Tobias Strobl was known for his 4-3-1-2 formation at SC Verl, and it would be no surprise if he transfers it to VfL Wolfsburg with the squad that he has available. Timon Wellenreuther, who has extensive experience at SC Feyenoord in Eredivisie, is expected to replace Kamil Grabara, who intends to depart the club but has not found a destination yet.

The back line has returning players in Joakim Mæhle and Saël Kumbedi along the wings, while new signings Hauke Wahl and Mathys Angély manage the central areas. Strobl’s 4-3-1-2 typically uses versatile central midfielders, which is part of the reason why Muhammed Damar and Elvis Rexhbecaj could fit in with Vinícius Souza in that part of the ground; Rexhbecaj and Souza in particular are players that can also play the defensive side of the midfield game, while Damar is more attacking-minded and could serve as one of the main links between the defense and attack.

The attacking midfield and forward lines consist of new signings, as Alessio Besio would likely be the support for Fraser Hornby and Robert Glatzel, while also moving to the edge of the box and generating chances of his own.

With only Mæhle, Kumbedi, and Souza projected to return from the Bundesliga team, it is unknown if some of the other Bundesliga players that have not moved to other clubs by this point will get playing time in this new-look squad. Mohamed Amoura, Christian Eriksen, and Denis Vavro are among the list of names that could get playing time in the 2. Bundesliga squad if they do not leave in this transfer window, although that is a matter likely to be determined later in the month.

SEASON PREDICTIONS

Finishing anywhere but first is not an option for VfL Wolfsburg. With a squad market value of €169.15 million - nearly four times that of the second most valuable team, FC St. Pauli (€46.43 million) - the expectation is that they can control the pace of play in most of their matches and return to the Bundesliga in 2027/28.

One of the major questions surrounding the club is whether they can sustain their early momentum into the second half of matches, a similar issue to their performances last season which saw them drop crucial points - in this preseason, they started off strong in their matches with Lyon and Telstar but struggled to maintain that form of consistency in the second 45. Aside from this point, against top-tier opposition from other countries, the new signings appeared to integrate quite well with the returning players - and if they can resolve most of the remaining issues by December at the latest, it would be no surprise to see Volkswagen Arena hosting top division encounters once again.