Still without a scorer in the league
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Since his €10 million move to VfL Wolfsburg in 2020, Ridle Baku has regularly contributed goals and assists for Lower Saxony in the Bundesliga. But things look different in the current season. Although he was on the pitch in all 17 games in the first half of the season, there was still no scorer for the right-back. He also only came off the bench eight times. A situation that leaves the 25-year-old dissatisfied and about which he now spoke openly and self-critically.
“The round wasn’t exactly outstanding, I collected one scorer point in the cup. There weren’t any more. If you want to play more, you have to perform. This has not always been the case in the past,” Baku explained (quoted via “WAZ“) and described the current phase as the most difficult phase since he arrived at the “Wolves” from Mainz. “The first few years were great, we played the Champions League, in the years after that we missed Europe, I’m playing irregularly now – it’s true that there’s a bit of a crisis in sport at the moment.”
Baku, which fell from 13 million to 10 million euros in the last market value update, wants to learn lessons from this. However, it is currently difficult for him to identify the exact reasons for the drop in performance. If you look at the team, “we simply have too many players who are too inconsistent. I always want to do my best and always want to move forward. But I’m now in a phase in which I’ve lost touch a bit – but it’s still important for me to stick with it.”
He also discussed his situation with coach Niko Kovac, but ultimately it’s up to him. “The person or go their separate ways if Wolfsburg still wants to generate an adequate transfer fee in the latter case. There have been no discussions yet, as Baku confirmed. “I’m deeply relaxed and don’t worry.”
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VfL Wolfsburg’s Baku: European Championship with Germany “far away” – a glimmer of hope remains
Despite his current lull, the right-footer has apparently not yet completely ticked off a nomination for the European Championship squad for the upcoming finals in Germany. In any case, he hasn’t booked his summer vacation yet. “I always do that at short notice,” said Baku, who has played four times for the DFB team, although his last appearance was over two years ago. The 21st European champion from 2021 therefore assesses his chances realistically and assumes that the European Championship is “far away” for him. “To do this, you first have to make sure that you perform consistently.” There is still a glimmer of hope: “In football, everything always happens so quickly. The best things always happen unexpectedly.”
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