After a complicated first few months at VfL Wolfsburg, newcomer Aster Vranckx is getting on better and better with the Lower Saxons. The 19-year-old is on the verge of earning himself a regular place at the club.
One day, Aster Vranckx said in an interview in his Belgian homeland about a year ago, he wanted to be “a permanent part of a team like Real Madrid”. A clear career plan for the great talent, who then initially decided on a stopover in Wolfsburg. There, at VfL, where he signed a contract until 2025, the 19-year-old is now taking his first visible steps. And they are definitely making an impression.
The start for Vranckx at VfL was bitter. He was barely there before he was out again, a calf injury put the newcomer from Mechelen out of action. The 4.5-million-euro transfer worked his way up slowly, making his Bundesliga debut under Mark van Bommel on Matchday 8 at Union Berlin (0:2). And is now in the process of establishing himself.
What surprised Kohfeldt
On the one hand, van Bommel’s successor Florian Kohfeldt says he is surprised by Vranckx’s performances and points to his age. The midfielder is still a teenager, after all, who now has three Bundesliga and two Champions League appearances to his name, but manages his task with a healthy dose of coolness. Which, in turn, does not surprise the coach, after all, he has been experiencing him for a week in training as well as in the game. “He is calm, courageous, he lets himself be played to in pressure situations.” And against the ball, Kohfeldt says, Vranckx is already “extremely important for us” because of his dynamism.
It was he who won the ball against RB Salzburg after an hour in the centre circle on Tuesday, and seconds later the ball was in the Austrian net for the 2:1 winner. Kohfeldt takes his hat off:”It’s impressive how he’s doing it at the moment.” At the same time, the coach put the brakes on expectations for the Belgian U-21 international. It is important “that we all don’t lose sight of the fact that he is still at this age and not a 25-year-old – even if he plays like that. “
