The decision on whether Koen Casteels will return to the VfL Wolfsburg goal as early as Mainz will be made on Friday. Admir Mehmedi is out for longer
It’s going step by step. But whether Koen Casteels will win the race against time will only be decided after the final training session tomorrow, Friday. The goalkeeper has been out of the Corona quarantine for a few days now, but that does not mean that the Belgian will be back between the VfL posts on Saturday. “He’s fine “, says Florian Kohfeldt, “but he’s also been lying down for a few days.” So the final decision, according to the coach, “whether he plays or not, we will make tomorrow in final training.”
On Thursday, Casteels increased the intensity of his training, and on Friday the 29-year-old is expected to practice with the team again. And can he then complete 90 Bundesliga minutes just one day later in Mainz? “We have no pressure,” Kohfeldt stressed. “We would be very happy if he could play again. But we have a very good substitute in Pavao Pervan.”
Definitely absent from Mainz will be Admir Mehmedi, whose almost never-ending injury story continues this season. “It’s a muscular story again,” the coach reports, “he won’t be available until the winter break.” Which is also likely to complicate possible future plans for the Swiss, who has made two competitive appearances as a substitute this season.
A conceivable departure in January becomes less likely with every further injury. “There is no tendency for Admir to leave the club in winter “, says sporting director Marcel Schäfer. In the summer, this might look different. The 30-year-old’s contract is due to expire and Mehmedi will then in all likelihood leave VfL.
