Already too many bad moves! German talent takes huge transfer risk

Wolfsburg put at least five million euros on the table for Muhammed Damar. That makes him the second-most expensive signing of the relegated club and, naturally, he is expected to be a key player. At first glance, that doesn’t sound like much, but for both sides it could be the biggest risk they have taken this summer — or even in their careers.

The reason: throughout his career so far, the 22-year-old talent has often made some pretty poor decisions when it came to transfers or new contracts. Too often, otherwise more people would probably already have his name on their radar.

Damar, who was regarded early on as an attacking player with enormous potential, began his career at three Berlin clubs. He was developed there and then ended up at TSG Hoffenheim at the age of 18.

Shortly after that, the run of rather poor club choices began. After one year with the Sinsheim side, he moved on loan to Hannover 96 in the 2. Bundesliga in 2023 in order to gain playing time.

Fiasco at Hannover 96

That backfired completely. Shortly after his arrival, coach Stefan Leitl ruthlessly cast him aside. Instead of being on the pitch — or at least on the bench in second-division stadiums — he was sent to the second team.

📸 Daniela Porcelli – 2025 Getty Images

Regional league football instead of the professional game. That was probably not how Damar had imagined it. In the U23s he did record 12 goal contributions, won the title, and later said that his time in Lower Saxony helped him grow as a person, but it is unlikely to have done much for his career.

Things went better at his next loan stop in Elversberg, where he managed nine goals in 34 games. But when he returned to his parent club hoping to finally get Bundesliga minutes, he was completely wrong again.

That was mainly down to his biggest rival for the position: Andrej Kramarić.

By then, he was already 34 years old, but even after Damar’s return last season he had no intention of stopping and just kept banging in the goals.

So experience was always preferred over talent. Damar only stepped onto the pitch 15 times, usually for just a few minutes right at the very end. So once again, no real playing time.

Forever in the rival’s shadow

Why he extended his contract in Sinsheim by another two years at the end of May 2025, even though Kramarić had also renewed just a few weeks earlier, remains unclear and rounds off the rather mediocre decisions of his career so far.

That Damar has talent is actually beyond question. With the DFB, he went through every youth national team up to the U21s. Last year, reports circulated that the German player with Turkish roots was being courted by the Turkish federation and tempted with the prospect of playing at a World Cup. That did not happen, but Damar is definitely on the radar and now has to hope he does not fall off it. His career has reached a crossroads if he still wants to break into the very top tier.

📸 Karina Hessland – 2025 Getty Images

There is certainly a real chance that the move to VfL Wolfsburg will finally bring him his breakthrough at professional level. The Lower Saxony side go into the league as favorites and, if all goes well, he could play a leading role in that. The bosses clearly seem to see huge potential in him — otherwise they would hardly have put five million euros on the table for him.

A knife-edge gamble

Still, it is also a bold decision, because the Wolves’ situation is extremely fragile. After relegation, immediate promotion is a must. If the first few games go wrong, alarm bells will ring straight away. After all, expectations are crystal clear: with this squad, the Wolves are supposed to tear the league apart and ideally have promotion all but wrapped up by the winter break.

How quickly the mood can turn when such expectations are not met is something VfL could, for example, find out in Hamburg.

The pressure on Damar, given the transfer fee and the sporting situation in Wolfsburg, is immense. Both sides depend on this expensive signing delivering. So the 22-year-old will probably not be able to play with the same freedom he had in Elversberg.

So it remains to be seen whether this transfer will turn out to be the first truly good decision in Muhammed Damar’s career — one that puts him on every football observer’s radar within just a few weeks — or whether, in the end, we will conclude that the risk did not pay off for either side.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.