Vavro out indefinitely with muscle injury – Skov Olsen fit to return

Denis Vavro will require surgery following an injury suffered against SV Hemelingen in the DFB-Pokal over the weekend.

Denis Vavro will be out of VfL Wolfsburg matches for an indefinite period of time, after suffering a muscle injury in the ninth minute of the club’s DFB-Pokal first round match, a 9-0 victory against SV Hemelingen this past Saturday. The 29-year-old Slovakian centre-back will undergo major adductor surgery.

Additionally, Andreas Skov Olsen, who played at right attacking midfielder in Simonis’ 4-2-3-1 formation for the Hemelingen match, did not pick up an ankle injury; he will likely be available for the opening match of the 2025/26 season against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 on Saturday afternoon.

Vavro’s injury creates a major problem for the Niedersachsen club, who do not have an experienced Wolfsburg starter to occupy the RCB spot alongside Konstantinos Koulierakis; Moritz Jenz was the temporary option for the Pokal match and ended up scoring the winning goal, but refused to speak with the Wolfsburg media after the match. Kicker states that Jenz has made it clear that he does not want to stay at the Volkswagen Arena, and while Beşiktaş JK remain interested, nothing has come of the negotiations yet.

If Jenz leaves before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, then 19-year-old defender David Odogu, who has only made three appearances in a Wolfsburg uniform at the senior level to date, would be the next possible option. Odogu was not in the squad for Wolfsburg’s Pokal match, despite the club facing a fifth-tier opponent and a possible chance for him to enter in the second half; he played a total of 102 minutes in the preseason friendlies against 1. FC Magdeburg, RCD Espanyol, and Feyenoord.

However, sporting director Sebastian Schindzielorz said about the situation with Jenz, when asked whether the club would move him before the end of the window: “With Denis [Vavro] absent, it is clear that we need depth – so the question does not even come up for us”.