Lukas Nmecha is fighting for his comeback at VfL Wolfsburg and is thinking back to his training at Manchester City. “The tough school helped me,” says the 24-year-old in a kicker interview (Monday edition).
Likes to see things positively: Lukas Nmecha.
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Lukas Nmecha often sees the positive in life, even when things aren’t going so well. At the end of 2021, the Wolfsburg striker broke his ankle, at the end of 2022 he suffered a partial rupture of the patellar tendon. Bad luck, but: “I see it more as a test and I also know that there can be even worse injuries,” says the 24-year-old in a kicker interview.
Although the attacker missed the World Cup in Qatar, the national coach encourages him for the upcoming tasks. “Hansi Flick called me, cheered me up, told me to keep going. The EM isn’t far away.”
That applies to him as well as to his brother Felix, who in the VfL jersey has meanwhile also been targeted by the national coach. “He told me that I should also let Felix know that he should step on the gas. I did that,” reveals Nmecha, who enjoyed his training at Manchester City and the English Association and can look back on a tough but instructive time.
In England players have often done their own thing to mine.
“In my time in England, for example, the team spirit wasn’t so important, the players often did their own thing. It looked like everyone was almost always trying to go one-on-one, over and over again. That Passing was less of a priority.” Nmecha remembers his then team-mate Jadon Sancho, who ended up at Manchester United via Borussia Dortmund. “He didn’t even play the ball when he was young.”
Kompanys Compliments
Nmecha prevailed in the city youth and made the leap into the professional team. Which wasn’t always easy. “When I was training with Pep Guardiola in the senior team, Vincent Kompany would grab me every day. I took that as a compliment: the big Kompany had to knock me out to get the ball.” His conclusion today: “The hard school helped me.”
The striker became a Bundesliga professional and German international (seven appearances), but will have to be patient before the restart on Saturday (3.30 p.m., LIVE! at kicker). A cold at the beginning of the year also threw him back, it is possible that Nmecha will not fully return to team training until this week.
He then faces Jonas Wind and Omar Marmoush in a battle for up front. Nmecha: “I certainly don’t want to be a bench player. When I’m back at my top level, I’ll fight for this place. But I also recognize that the guys are doing their job very well.”
In the kicker interview in the Monday edition (also as eMagazine) Nmecha also expresses his opinion on the criticism of the national team, talks about the “great team” in Wolfsburg and reveals how he was in the middle of Manchester City’s historic title win in 2012.
