Wolfsburg’s young attacker Dzenan Pejcinovic (18) is recommended for higher tasks in the VfL U19 team. This is how boss Marcel Schäfer thinks about the development of the national striker with the impressive goal rate.
Dzenan Pejcinovic impresses at VfL Wolfsburg. IMAGO/regios24
There will probably be no place for him in the squad for the Wolfsburg game on Saturday (3:30 p.m., LIVE! on kicker) against Eintracht Frankfurt. Dzenan Pejcinovic was only part of coach Niko Kovac’s matchday squad at the start of the season against newly promoted Heidenheim (2-0), after which the 18-year-old was off to the U19s. This is not a punishment, but is part of the support plan. Since the summer of 2022, Pejcinovic, who came from FC Augsburg for 1.25 million euros, has been training with the Wolfsburg professionals. The U-19 national striker has primarily gained match practice with the A-juniors. And it’s obviously having the desired development there. “Dzenan has completed very good preparation and is now at a very good level physically,” praises VfL managing director Marcel Schäfer, “and that is now also reflected in the goals.”
Schäfer: “The goals are an expression of a very positive development”
Pejcinovic has already scored six times in three games in the A-Junior Bundesliga. Things looked different last season when the center forward only managed two goals in 13 league games. The chance to show himself in the Bundesliga didn’t exist for a long time, but surprisingly coach Kovac threw him in on the last matchday, when it was all or nothing against Hertha BSC (1:2) in the battle for Europe the final phase of the Bundesliga debut. Now, despite the injury to striker Lukas Nmecha, it’s time to have young talent again instead of the upper house.
“Last season was very challenging for him with the step into everyday training with the professionals, which is why patience was and is required of everyone,” explains manager Schäfer, who is satisfied with the progress of his highly talented attacker. “The goals are an expression of a very positive development that Dzenan is making. We are totally convinced of the boy and believe in him.”
Loan requests were blocked
Any loan requests in the summer were blocked accordingly, and the U-19 national striker, who has so far scored an impressive 30 goals in 31 international matches for Germany, is to be carefully developed. Schäfer: “The match practice and the goals in the U19 are a basic requirement for a striker’s self-confidence, and he can also prove himself at a top level in training with us during the week.”
Solo entertainer Wind, injured Nmecha, strange Sarr
And maybe the opportunity will come sooner than you think. In the VfL attack, striker Jonas Wind, who scored five times on the first five matchdays, has so far been the sole entertainer; Nmecha will not play any more games in 2023. And the alternative striker Amin Sarr, who was signed shortly before the transfer deadline, is still very strange. Pejcinovic is again recommended at the highest youth level under U-19 coach Daniel Bauer. Boss Schäfer is convinced: “If Dzenan continues like this, he will have very good prospects with us.”
2023-09-29 09:56:57
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