In Wolfsburg, his prospects have been limited recently, and shortly before the end of the transfer period, Marin Pongracic moved to Borussia Dortmund on loan. In the Twitch conversation “Flügelzange” with the artist SSYNIC, the central defender takes a strong stance against the Lower Saxons.
These are phrases that will not go down well at VfL Wolfsburg. At the club where Marin Pongracic is still under contract until 2024 and where he has often been conspicuous for his indiscipline. In the summer, the centre-back, who was signed from RB Salzburg in January 2020, had fallen even further down the centre-back hierarchy with the purchase of Sebastiaan Bornauw (Cologne), and his loan to BVB, which was completed shortly before the end of the transfer, made sense. Now VfL is getting the full brunt of the 24-year-old, who has raised eyebrows with questionable statements. It is difficult to imagine a return to Wolfsburg.
For almost two hours, Pongracic, who is known to wear his heart on his sleeve, talks to the artist and comedian SSYNIC, whose real name is Samuel Sibilski. About Dortmund, his life, his career. And about VfL. “I was written off in Wolfsburg, they didn’t want me any more,” says Pongracic, looking back on last summer, when his prospects had deteriorated further. The Croatian actually knows: “I can’t bang on too much because I’m still one of their players.” And yet he does. With the hope of staying in Dortmund permanently. “I’m on loan for a year, with an option to buy. It’s not too high. If I do that to some extent, I hope they will do that. “
Pongracic also chats openly about all the sums. In 2020, VfL paid nine million euros to RB Salzburg for him, he said, and that is now the transfer fee for him should BVB decide to buy him. “They wouldn’t make any plus at all,” he stresses with regard to VfL. “For them it’s also a bit shit. If I go through the roof here now, they all say in Wolfsburg: ‘What have you done here, who have you let go?’ That makes me extremely happy.”
The joy is hardly likely to be on Wolfsburg’s side, given the phrases the Croatian international is still spouting. “They started making shenanigans,” Pongracic describes his last weeks at VfL. “That’s when I realised that they also wanted me to leave, to make room for others. It’s disgusting that I suddenly don’t take part in eleven-against-eleven training, I collapse like that, I want to freak out, I want to go to van Bommel, I want to grab him the most.” The defender has a bad hand with Mark van Bommel, the coach at the time. He obviously has to rein himself in. “Then you have to sit down and talk to him like a politician. “
Pongracic wanted to leave, almost ended up at RSC Anderlecht, as he reveals, then shortly before the end of the transfer the window opens in the direction of Dortmund. There, where Marco Rose, whom he knows from Salzburg, is coach. Financially, Pongracic emphasises, he was not prepared to make any major sacrifices. As he puts it: “There were few options. Of course I don’t go on loan somewhere and play for so and so much money less. I can’t give up huge sums, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t make sense. I’ve had shit options, really stupid offers that don’t make sense. I was really frustrated here in Wolfsburg, but thought like, digga, I can’t do that. It’s not up to my level. I can’t go back to the 2nd division feeling, even though I’ve already proven myself here in the 1st Bundesliga.”
Borussia Dortmund granted Pongracic’s wish, causing great joy in the player. “It’s shocking, after all, when you think about it: I’m not an option in Wolfsburg, but Dortmund is getting me.” And they will also pay the entire salary. Pongracic explains it like this: “The (the VfL Wolfsburg;) wanted to get rid of me, but didn’t want to tell me directly. If they tell me directly, they also have to take over part of my salary in this loan. Dortmund took over the salary. “
Pongracic says it would cost BVB nine million euros
It will be exciting to see whether BVB then also pulls the purchase option. The Croatian, who was born in Landshut, has made seven appearances in the Bundesliga and three substitute appearances in the Champions League, including against Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday evening. In the cup, Pongracic was in the starting line-up for the 2:0 win against Ingolstadt. The defender will have to stretch himself to make Dortmund put the money on the table for him in the summer. Nine million euros. Says Pongracic.