Max Kruse took part in the team training of the Bundesliga soccer club four days after his sporting exit from VfL Wolfsburg. The 34-year-old completed the first session with the other professionals on Tuesday morning after the 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.
According to the club, Kruse will also take part in a VfL social project on Tuesday. The players visit various activities in the region on one day every year. Coach Niko Kovac and the club’s sporting management informed Kruse last Friday that he would no longer play a game for Wolfsburg from now on.
Schmadtke: Schäfer will seek a solution with Kruse
Last Saturday after the victory in Frankfurt, Kovac made this decision public. Since the change period for football professionals in Germany as well as in the other most important European leagues has already ended, VfL can currently only negotiate with Kruse about a contract termination against payment of a million severance payment, or wait for a transfer of the 14-time national player in winter.
“Marcel Schäfer will sit down with Max Kruse to find a solution together,” said managing director Jörg Schmadtke of the “Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung”. “I can’t answer seriously what that will look like today. Of course, that also depends on what the player and his agent imagine.” As long as his future is not clear, Kruse trains with the team. “We fulfill contracts,” said sports director Schäfer.
Kruse: Make your own decisions about the end of your career
After the ejection on Sunday, Kruse explained via Instagram video that he “always gave everything for the club I played for”. He also specifically responded to a statement by Kovac. The VfL coach answered a reporter’s question as to whether his decision would end a great Bundesliga career. “I think I’ll decide for myself when my time in the Bundesliga is over. Nobody else decides that for me,” emphasized the Reinbeker native.
