"Best for everyone": Wolfsburg terminates Kruse's contract

Created: 2022-11-28Updated: 2022-11-28, 6:18 p.m

Successful at the poker table.

© Michael Matthey/dpa

The second chapter of Max Kruse in Wolfsburg is over after less than a year.

The retired ex-national player and the club have agreed to terminate the contract.

Wolfsburg – Max Kruse and VfL Wolfsburg finally go their separate ways.

On Monday, the Bundesliga soccer team and the eccentric attacking player mutually terminated the contract.

"In open and honest discussions, we agreed that this solution is best for everyone involved," said VfL sports director Marcel Schäfer in a statement.

The 34-year-old former international, who was recently recovering from a muscle injury, was sorted out by coach Niko Kovac in early September and has not played a game for Wolves since then.

The VfL officials accused him of a lack of professionalism and thus a bad influence on the rest of the team.

Before his injury, Kruse was only allowed to train - once he was the only field player to help with goalkeeper training.

Between 2015 and 2016, the Reinbeker native had already been chasing goals at VfL.

Under ex-coach Florian Kohfeldt, Kruse was brought in in January as a savior in the relegation battle by league competitor Union Berlin.

While the professional helped Lower Saxony stay in the league during the past second half of the season, the attacker's re-engagement under new coach Kovac had become a burden.

The unconventional Kruse and the Croatian champion of discipline did not go together.

The big bang was indicated for weeks.

In the meantime, sports director Jörg Schmadtke mediated between the coach and the player, who was part of the German Olympic team in Japan in the summer of 2021.

In terms of sport, Kruse's absence in Wolfsburg had not been noticed at all in the past few games.

After a bumpy start to the season, the club stabilized under Kovac and won five of the last eight Bundesliga games.

Most recently, Kruse focused on his YouTube account, which he runs with his wife, and started a World Cup podcast with comedian Oliver Pocher.

He also pursued another hobby more intensively: a week ago he almost became German champion in poker.

Kruse had to admit defeat in the final.

According to Kruse, the focus should continue to be on football.

The ex-player from Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and SC Freiburg actually had a contract in Wolfsburg until the end of June 2023. Kruse has long been associated with a move to Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America, because on the one hand his son lives there and on the other hand he had praised the USA in the past.

dpa