Josuha Guilavogui would have liked to switch to VfB Stuttgart in January. However, VfL Wolfsburg continued to insist on the services of the 32-year-old, who only plays a minor role under coach Niko Kovac. In the kicker interview, Guilavogui talks about where he is and his future in Wolfsburg.
Relationship of trust: Bruno Labbadia and Josuha Guilavogui (right).
imago images / Michael Weber
Yes, he would have liked to switch to VfB Stuttgart. Josuha Guilavogui openly admits that. “But not because I don’t feel comfortable here at VfL,” emphasizes the Frenchman. “I just wanted to play more again. And I would have had that opportunity in Stuttgart. I would have liked to have worked under Bruno Labbadia again.” The coach who is of great importance to the 32-year-old.
What’s more: “I have a special relationship with him,” explains Guilavogui, who was once made captain by the VfB coach in Wolfsburg. And who now wanted to lure him to Swabia. “He called me and told me he needed me,” reports the midfielder in a kicker interview. Guilavogui would have traded the fight for international places, which he contests with VfL, for the relegation battle. “I’m a grateful person, I know what Bruno Labbadia did for me back then in Wolfsburg. I came from a serious injury, he immediately put his trust in me. That’s why I would have liked to pay him back.”
Wolfsburg, however, vetoed it, and VfL coach Niko Kovac emphasized the importance of Guilavogui for the team – on and off the pitch. Although the Frenchman wanted to leave, he can live with the decision. “I’m also very grateful to VfL, so I couldn’t cause any trouble or even go on strike. I accepted the decision.” His contract with VfL, to which he switched in 2014, ends in the summer. What’s next? Guilavogui: “I’m not thinking about that at the moment. I’m now in the last third of my career and for the first time I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s a different feeling, but it’s a good feeling.”
In the kicker interview (Thursday edition, also available as eMagazine) Josuha Guilavogui also talks about his short time in Wolfsburg, the anger of Maxence Lacroix and his supporters when he was young.
