To simply categorize this season’s VfL Wolfsburg side as a cobbled-together bundle of hand-me-downs would be, at worst, harsh; at best, half the truth.
Over the past few transfer periods the Bundesliga outfit has targeted and signed a handful of young or late-blooming players presently making a difference in manager Dieter Hecking’s first team.
Former FC Zurich left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, 22, is the jewel of the lot, and each of right-back Sebastian Jung (24) and midfielders Daniel Caligiuri (26) and Joshua Guilavogui (24) have also been impactful this season.
And what a season it’s been.
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On Saturday, after falling behind to visiting FC Koln, goals from Bas Dost and Naldo lifted Wolfsburg to a 2-1 victory and capped off the best first half of a league campaign in the club’s history.
Not even in 2008-09, when they went on to win the league title, did they enter the winter break with the 34 points they’ve currently amassed. And given the disastrous months of August and September that threatened to derail their Champions League bid it’s a wonder they closed out the calendar year trailing only runaway leaders Bayern Munich in the standings.
Incredibly, it took Wolfsburg until their sixth match to post just their second win of 2014-15. But as Hecking pointed out at the time, of all the Bundesliga clubs only Bayern had committed as many players to the World Cup.
The 50-year-old’s pre-season preparations were inhibited as a result, and it didn’t help that Wolves began their campaign without goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, defender Christian Trasch and playmaker Ivan Perisic—all injured. (Trasch has been limited to just three matches in all competitions so far this term.)
But Hecking, who made a name for himself at Nurnberg, continued to preach patience and calm until his squad found its groove and made the turnaround he was always expecting.
Since a 1-0 defeat away to Hertha Berlin in late September they’ve lost just one of 12 matches and outscored their opponents by a combined 25-10. Third-place Bayer Leverkusen are six points in arrears, and if all goes according to plan Wolfsburg could be even stronger when they host Bayern Munich on January 31.
As it happens, want-away Bayern attacker Xherdan Shaqiri could be set to seal a €20 million to Volkswagen Arena. The 23-year-old, who joined the Bavarian giants from Basel in 2012, has found opportunities few and far between in manager Pep Guardiola’s setup, and after his employers’ scuttled a summer move to Liverpool he vowed to explore his options in January.
Having recently flexed some financial muscle Wolfsburg would seem to have the wherewithal to sign the Switzerland international, and in so doing they’d underline a transfer strategy that has proved wildly successful for them of late: acquiring highly-talented cast-offs at reasonable, even cut-rate prices.
If Hecking’s reputation for spotting a deal was established at Nurnberg, it has burgeoned at Wolfsburg.
Shortly after being hired at the club in December 2012 he took Ivan Perisic off Borussia Dortmund’s hands for €8 million, and the following summer he spent €20 million to bring Luiz Gustavo north from Bayern.
Last winter Kevin De Bruyne moved from Chelsea for a fee of €22 million that now looks a bargain, and Hannover midfielder Lars Stindl could be next to join ranks when the transfer window opens. He has a €3 million release clause.
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Intriguingly, Wolves have already inked China international Zhang Xizhe to a one-and-a-half year contract, and the shifty, technically-gifted playmaker could feature at some point against Bayern next month. The 23-year-old arrives from Beijing Guoan for €1.5 million and will find a thriving team high in morale awaiting him in Wolfsburg.
For a top-three contender it hasn’t been assembled all that conventionally, or even intentionally, but with half the season in the books the results speak for themselves.
Hecking’s mix of promising prospects and rivals’ rejects has made a real impression in the German top flight, and a positive one at that.
They won’t win the title, but in an era when Bayern Munich play in a league of their own a second-place finish would be proud consolation.
Jerrad Peters is a Winnipeg-based writer. Follow him on Twitter