“License budget not yet exhausted”
VfL Bochum earned more than 15 million euros on the transfer market in the summer through player sales – a record for the district club. However, only just under a tenth of the sum went to replacements. After ten games, Bochum are bottom of the table with four points. “One reads again and again that VfL is saving badly. This is madness. We increased the budget by 6 million euros to 31.5 million euros, which is a quantum leap for Bochum. But that still puts us at the bottom of the Bundesliga by some distance,” said CFO Ilja Kaenzig, defending the transfer strategy “WAZ” interview.
“By the way, this increase took place before the sale of Bella-Kotchap, since this income was not to be expected. And when we sold him, the squad already consisted of 25 players, 17 of them with the potential to become a regular. Of the 16.2 million euros gross, only 7.9 million euros remain net after deducting investments, for example for consultants, mandatory repayments for our stadium center, and taxes,” Kaenzig continued to unravel. “During the Corona crisis, we took out a loan of EUR 6.8 million from KfW-Bank, which has to be serviced. Due to corona, we had negative equity of 5 million euros, which we had to reduce in order to receive the license from the DFL. After the past 2021/22 financial year, our equity is positive again.”
Bella-Kotchap clearly ahead: the most expensive departures from VfL Bochum
Away from the transfer market, further “investments of around 4 million euros for absolutely necessary modernization measures have been initiated,” Kaenzig continued. “For example, for new video walls, the wet area of the team cabin, for the youth academy and the renovation of a training ground. These expenses are a must to be able to continue our strategy of development and growth. In the end, we put more than 40 percent of our turnover in the area of licensed players. In Germany, 40 to 50 percent are considered healthy.”
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Sports director Patrick Fabian also defended that he had signed the right players. “We’re confident in our squad and haven’t been relegated yet. We just mustn’t mix emotions and feelings with factual consideration and facts,” explained the 35-year-old. “We overperformed at times last season, so expectations were set too high in some places. But it is true: the team as a whole and individually, including some top performers from the previous season, have not yet come close to their potential performance. But one or two new players who would cost us a lot of money could certainly not guarantee us a place in the league for that reason alone. It’s all about the community.”
VfL Bochum is considering further reinforcements for the squad in winter
Nevertheless, VfL Bochum is of course also thinking about possible reinforcements during the long winter break. “We will analyze the situation carefully during the World Cup break. If we are convinced that new players can increase our chances of staying up, we will see whether one or the other transfer is feasible. We haven’t fully exhausted the license budget yet, and thanks to reaching the round of 16 in the cup, transfers are possible,” said Fabian.
According to Kaenzig, the fact that the long-time second division competitor Union Berlin, who rose two years before Bochum and arrived as an opponent on Sunday (3:30 p.m.) as an opponent, greets from the top of the table and quickly eludes VfL is due to other conditions. “Union has more members, more sponsors, more merchandising proceeds. The stadium belongs to the club, in Bochum to the city. It holds fewer fans, but the lucrative VIP area is significantly larger than ours. In addition, Union took a risk with loans from the financial investor Quattrex. In Berlin’s case, this risk paid off in sporting terms,” explained the managing director. “Bochum cannot and does not want to go this route. We are looking for an investor who wants to develop the club in the long term and is not looking for short-term profits. This is currently not in sight.”
The Bundesliga stadiums 2022/23 by capacity
Kaenzig does not expect a sporting crash like that of Arminia Bielefeld or Greuther Fürth, who are relegated to the bottom of the table in the 2nd division and which some fans foresee: “We are far from standing on the precipice. Such claims are an insult to our employees, who work every day to bring VfL further forward. It is important that you always maintain your ambitions. We will also be ambitious next season, regardless of the league. We have continuously developed in the last few years, in all areas. We have achieved the successes, both sporting and economic, together, starting with the board and the presidency. We’re going to continue on this path and we won’t let that get in the way because we’re maybe four or five points down after the ten games we’ve played so far.”
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