deal perfect! Vitesse Arnhem’s Thomas Letsch signs with VfL Bochum – 2nd Bundesliga

Welcome to the Bundesliga!

Thomas Letsch (54) signed his contract with VfL Bochum today.

Yesterday evening, VfL agreed to pay the transfer fee demanded by Vitesse Arnhem (around 600,000 euros including bonuses). Before that, sports directors Patrick Fabian (34/VfL) and Benjamin Schmedes (37/Vitesse) were getting closer and closer in their ideas. The first Bochum offer came at the beginning of the week.

Everything was already clear between Bochum and Letsch at the weekend. Letsch (Arnhem contract ran until 2023) was immediately hooked to work for the Pott-Klub.

On Thursday, Letsch finally returned his company car and said goodbye to his team.

These are the most important facts of the Letsch deal:

︎ Letsch signs on Castroper Straße until 2024. An extension option is not anchored in the contract.

▶︎ There is no opt-out clause.

▶︎ The contract is also valid in the 2nd division.

︎ Letsch brings his assistant coach Jan Fießer (35/kicked for Sandhausen, Wiesbaden, Saarbrücken and Bielefeld, among others).

Who is Letsch anyway? Before Vitesse (101 games), the native Swabian coached Austria Vienna (37 games) and Aue (3 games). In the Erzgebirge it was over after just a few weeks because there were different opinions about the desired style of play. It should remain his only professional station in Germany until his Bochum commitment.

Before Aue, Letsch was active in the RB cosmos at RB Salzburg and his farm team FC Liefering for over five years. Here he trained, among others, Xaver Schlager (24), Amadou Haidara (24), Konrad Laimer (25/all Leipzig), Naby Keita (27/Liverpool) and Dayot Upamecano (23/Bayern).