It was the biggest surprise of the Bundesliga season so far: Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac throws Max Kruse out of the team and banishes him to the stands for the rest of the season. His chapter at VfL Wolfsburg, where he still has a contract until next summer, ended prematurely.
The 34-year-old striker has now commented on his eviction on Instagram. Kruse said: “The first opinion is always through my channels. As you’ve probably noticed, the coach decided never to take me into the squad again. That came as a surprise not only to me, especially after the last two games that I played from the start, but also to many of you who saw it on Saturday.”
He respects the coach’s opinion, said Kruse, “apparently I shouldn’t identify with the club anymore. But anyone who knows me knows that in the last ten, twelve years that I’ve been playing professional football, I’ve always given it my all. That will continue to be the case if I am allowed to train”. At least that’s what Kovac had promised in his public statement.
However, the attacking star’s time in Wolfsburg is practically over. And that after only half a year. Kruse only switched from Union Berlin to the Werkself in January, and VfL had paid five million euros for the transfer.
“I came to Wolfsburg in January,” said Kruse, “to help the team. I think I did that last second half of the season. And I would like to thank you very much for all the messages that have reached me since yesterday. Thanks a lot for this.”
In the end, however, he becomes clear: “Finally, I wanted to say: I’ll decide for myself when my time in the Bundesliga is over! And nobody else decides that but me. Happy Sunday to you!“
After VfL Wolfsburg’s first win of the season in Frankfurt (1-0), he explained in a Sky interview: “We didn’t see any impulses from Max. So as a coach you have to see the club. So we made the decision. He won’t be there in the future and definitely won’t play anymore.”
When asked by the Sky reporter whether this was the end of a great Bundesliga career, Kovac answered briefly: “Yes.” Will Kruse really not play anymore? “No.” As a coach, he has a responsibility to help the team, Kovac said. “The club is above everything and that’s why we made the decision together.”
Kruse’s contract runs until the summer of 2023, now he’s sitting in the stands. According to information from BILD, his gross annual salary at Lower Saxony is around 3.8 million euros.
