As a disappointing Bundesliga campaign for Wolfsburg draws to a close, Germany’s Autostädter confirmed the departure of five players on Thursday afternoon. Two higher profile names – controversial German striker Kevin Behrens and one-time promising Polish prospect Bartosz Bialek – are among those departing the Lower Saxony team. Substituter keeper Niklas Klinger is also out along with youngsters Bennit Bröger and Manuel Braun.
Behrens’ late career renaissance once served as something of a German footballing cinderella tale. The 2. Bundesliga veteran finally broke through in the German top division with Union Berlin at the age of 31. Standout performances for Union both in the Bundesliga and Europe led to him even earning a German national team cap in October 2023.
In the January 2024 transfer window, Wolfsburg became the first club to pay money to acquire Behrens in his entire career. The Lower Saxons spent €2m to bring Behrens in from Union. Prior to that, Behrens had switched clubs seven times on free transfers. Behrens ended up scoring just one goal in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.
Behrens then found himself blacklisted early this year for refusing to sign an LGTBQ jersey and found himself the subject of protests league-wide whenever Wolfsburg played away. The Bremen-native has not made a single start all season but managed to score one league goal and register an assist after the October incident. Some clubs are rumoured to be interested in him.
Bialek departs Wolfsburg still having two Bundesliga goals to his credit. The former Polish youth international was once a rising star signed for €5m. He struck twice off the bench for the Oliver Glasner VfL team that qualified for the Champions League during the 2020/21 campaign. Unfortunately, Bialek suffered three serious knee injuries in the last four years.
Bialek did enjoy some modest success whilst on loan in the Eredivisie with Vitesse and at Belgian side KAS Eupen, but has not made a single Bundesliga appearance for his side this year. Klinger and Braun (currently on loan at SV Waldhof Mannheim) failed to register an appearance for VfL. Bröger – likely to sign with Paderborn, per Kicker – made one league appearance last season and one cup appearance this year.
GGFN | Peter Weis
