DPA/Munich
Wolfsburg start life without Kevin de Bruyne (pictured) while returning Claudio Pizarro could feature for Werder Bremen in the first Bundesliga round after the end of the transfer period.
Belgium’s De Bruyne had 10 goals and 20 assists as Wolfsburg finished runners-up to Bayern Munich last season but that feat generated huge interest abroad and prompted Manchester City to splash out some 85 million dollars for him.
De Bruyne was already in England for the medical check when Wolfsburg beat Schalke 3-0 a fortnight ago, and now he is officially gone.
However, the biggest ever transfer involving a German club allowed Wolfsburg to swiftly spend almost half of the De Bruyne money on Germany midfielder Julian Draxler from Schalke via a buy-out clause before the transfer window closed on August 31.
“I came to the conclusion that would not have been able at Schalke to withstand the pressure and the expectations,” Draxler told yesterday’s edition of Kicker sports magazine.
Now he hopes to shine for Wolfsburg where “you have a team at a top level which however has not peaked yet. That suits me well because I am very young and can improve.”
Wolfsburg, who also snapped up out-of-favour Munich defender Dante, rank third with seven points from three games behind Borussia Dortmund and Munich who have a maximum nine each.
Dortmund could have new loan signing Adnan Januzaj Manchester United in the starting 11 when visit winless Hanover, Munich host Augsburg for a Bavarian derby while Draxler could get his first Wolfsburg minutes at promoted Ingolstadt.
Schalke are ninth with four points and sports director Horst Heldt insists that “we have enough quality in the squad” to compensate the departure of Draxler.
Schalke bolstered their midfield with Johannes Geis in summer and now face his former club Mainz on Sunday. Another Schalke newcomer, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (on loan from Munhich), will likely only be on the Schalke bench.
Pizarro joined Bremen on a free transfer on Tuesday after his contract in Munich expired on June 30, and the 36-year-old Peruvian striker hopes he can help a young and developing team in his third stint at the northern Germans.
Coach Viktor Skripnik will decide on short notice whether Pizarro will be in the team for Sunday’s visit to Hoffenheim, and sports director Thomas Eichin has warned that fans should not expect Pizarro to play all the time and rather also have faith in the other forwards Anthony Ujah and Aron Johansson.
“It would not be good if the Pizarro chants start after two minutes and Ujah and Johansson are playing,” Eichin said.
Also likely not to play is Mexican Javier Hernandez who signed a three-year deal at sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen in a late move from Manchester United.
But former Bremen, and Wolfsburg, forward Aaron Hunt could get an instant chance Friday night with SV Hamburg when they visit surprise bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach who are yet to win a point.
So could Vedad Ibisevic at Hertha Berlin in their Saturday game against his former club, second bottom VfB Stuttgart.
Meanwhile, last season’s Bundesliga top scorer Alex Meier is returning from five months on the sidelines with injury when Eintracht Frankfurt play Cologne.
