Leipzig change had failed
Maxence Lacroix was “a bit pissed” when he wasn’t allowed to move from VfL Wolfsburg to RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021. After weeks of playing poker, sports director Jörg Schmadtke, who has since retired, had publicly canceled the Saxons. “It was difficult for me,” said the 22-year-old central defender. He “no longer needs negative thoughts” of this kind if something doesn’t go the way he wants, as Lacroix now said in the “Kicker” interview. “I’ve gotten to know myself better over the past few years.”
Lacroix, who quickly took off in the Bundesliga after his EUR 5 million move from youth club FC Sochaux to Wolfsburg and has since reached a market value of EUR 28 million, has not always had the easiest position this season under VfL coach Niko Kovac the ex-professional did help him in the development: “Niko Kovac is someone who tells you the truth. That helps a lot, even if it hurts. After my freshman year maybe I wanted too much, wanted to show how good I was. Kovac tells me I just have to play. I try to take that to heart.”
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If Lacroix was still set at the beginning of the season, he had to leave the starting eleven in the fall and was even completely on the bench four times in a row. Micky van de Ven (21), who is developing just as steeply as his French team-mate two years ago, and the equally talented Sebastiaan Bornauw (23; last suspended yellow) are mostly in the starting line-up. In the market value analysis, Lacroix’ market value, which has always remained constant at EUR 20 million in recent months, is therefore discussed.
“I accepted it as a challenge, see this situation as part of my development,” said Lacroix, matured. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ve been on the bench for a long time. I had to learn to deal with it. Today I can say: I’ve never learned as much as I did this season.”
Will Maxence Lacroix stay at VfL Wolfsburg beyond the summer?
During Bornauw’s ban, Lacroix was convincing, when asked if there was any reason to take him out of the eleven again, he said: “I’ve shown what I can do. The coach decides. The most important thing is that we win. After all, we want to play internationally next year. I also have big goals myself.” He knows about his quality and wants to become a national player: “Konaté, Upamecano, Saliba – the competition is tough, but that is a challenge for me.”
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In order to outperform the rivals from Liverpool, London and Munich, he has to play the Champions League regularly. Should Wolfsburg move into the Conference League, the current seventh place would entitle it to do so depending on the outcome in the DFB Cup, that would probably be “difficult” enough. “My aim is to play as high up as possible. I want to win titles.”
Nevertheless, when asked about his future, Lacroix heeded the words he chose about the situation two years ago: “We will see that in the summer, not now. I’m totally happy here, I feel good, we have goals as a club and as a team. That’s what I focus on 100 percent. (…) Sometimes it’s better to be quiet and work hard. I didn’t play much, so I had to focus even more on myself.”
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