Max Kruse: Bundesliga return “would be a highlight” – footballer time “not over yet”

Most valuable German without a club

A good five months after leaving VfL Wolfsburg, former international Max Kruse is still hoping to continue his career – preferably in the Bundesliga. “The preference is on Germany. And the first division would be a highlight, I want to go back there,” said the 35-year-old in a “Time“-Interview. “I would just hate to step down in such a way that someone else decides when it’s time.” Because: “In my opinion, my time as a footballer hasn’t come to an end.”

Because coach Niko Kovac accused him of a lack of commitment and a lack of sporting impulses at VfL, Kruse was initially removed from the squad last September. At the end of November, the contract with the long-standing Bundesliga striker from Union Berlin, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and SC Freiburg was terminated.

“It was the first time in the 15 years of my professional career that that was said about me,” said Kruse, who with a market value of 900,000 euros is the most valuable German footballer without a club, about the end of his time with the “Wolves”. “I always gave my maximum everywhere. Sure, things didn’t go so well under Niko Kovac, not for the whole team in the early days. And it was probably the easiest thing to do as the scapegoat.”

He was even eating with the ex-Bayern coach right after Kovac’s arrival at VfL. “The coach asked what I need to perform well. I said: Just trust, that’s all I want. But then I didn’t feel that trust at all, not from day one,” emphasized Kruse, for whom Kovacs led five games in the end.

Kruse would refrain from social media activities for the new club

He is now working on his comeback in Berlin every day with a fitness trainer. In the interview, he also signaled potential new clubs to stop his activities in the social networks, which were particularly heavily criticized in Wolfsburg. “Things like YouTube are fun for me, but they’re not vital to me either. I could also say we’ll stop that,” said Kruse, for whom a total of 27.5 million euros was paid in transfers during his career – most of it from Wolfsburg with a total of 17 million euros.

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