On Saturday evening, VfL Wolfsburg will face VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. For the Swabians, the focus is on VfL loanee Omar Marmoush. Many players before him have already worn the jersey of both clubs.
Last season, Omar Marmoush impressed in the 2. Liga for FC St. Pauli. This year he initially returned to VfL Wolfsburg at the end of the loan deal. After only two short appearances in the first three league games, another loan followed, this time to VfB Stuttgart, the upcoming opponents of the “Wolves”.
On the Neckar, the 22-year-old played his first game directly over 90 minutes and scored the important goal in the 1:1 against Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 4. Whenever he was fit, he was always in the starting eleven of last season’s ninth-placed team. With four scorer points in seven Bundesliga games, he is one of the few bright spots in Stuttgart’s so far mixed season.
Gentner, Gomez and Co.
In Bundesliga history, there have already been several other well-known players, coaches and officials who have worked for both clubs. Christian Gentner, for example, became champion with both VfB (2007) and VfL (2009) and returned to the Swabian metropolis after his time in the VW city. Mario Gomez scored 85 goals in a total of 191 games for Stuttgart and also won the championship in 2007. Between 2016 and 2017, the “Torero” helped Wolfsburg stay in the league when he converted a controversial handball penalty in the first leg of the relegation against Eintracht Braunschweig on 25 May 2017 for a 1-0 final score.
Still active at VfB today are Daniel Didavi (player) and Thomas Hitzlsperger (officially still sports director). Hitzlsperger was also champion in 2007 and played for the Lower Saxons between 2011 and 2012, Didavi from 2016 to 2018.
Probably the best-known coach on the chairs of both clubs was Felix Magath. He stood on the sidelines 118 times for VfL, with whom he became champion in 2009, and only 4 times less for VfB. But Bruno Labbadia also prepared Wolfsburg for 48 games and VfB for 89.
Dieter Hoeneß scored 44 times in 105 games for Stuttgart in the 70s. After his professional career, he worked as an official in clubs, among others – also at VfL Wolfsburg. From 2010 to 2011, he led the team in difficult times for just over a year as sports director and manager. 19 players and four coaches (including Armin Veh and Jürgen Röber) worked for both clubs during their Bundesliga days. Lorenz-Günther Köstner, meanwhile, was once co-coach in Stuttgart and twice interim coach in Wolfsburg.
What will become of Marmoush?
Gentner, Gomez – and what will become of Marmoush? As things stand, he will return to the Green-Whites next season after his loan spell. If he continues like this, he will probably have a good chance of establishing himself there. He has enough role models who made it at both clubs, including predecessors as strikers such as Daniel Ginczek and Thomas Brdaric.