Good tidings for all Wolves fans to start the New Year: VfL Wolfsburg have secured an early extension, without opt-out clause, to the contract with Maximilian Arnold for a further two years until June 30th, 2022. Arnold has played in VfL’s youth teams since 2009, making his debut in Germany’s top-flight as a 17-year-old in 2011. Arnold is thus the youngest Green-White debutant in the club’s Bundesliga history.
"The premature and long-term contract extension with Maximilian Arnold documents the mutual trust and ambition from all sides. VfL is Maximilian‘s vocational-education club. He has experienced highs here, such as the Bundesliga runner-up season and the DFB-Cup win, but also lows, like last season’s relegation battle. At just 23 years old, he has already made over 170 competitive appearances for VfL – that’s quite exceptional. Maximilian Arnold now wants to take the next step in his development with VfL Wolfsburg, which we are very happy about," explained VfL Sporting director Olaf Rebbe. VfL general manager Dr. Tim Schumacher: "Maximilian Arnold is part of the VfL Wolfsburg story. He is a vitally important figure of identification for our fans. We are very proud that he has signed an early, long-term contract extension us."
"The next step with VfL"
Arnold, who wears the Wolves jersey with the number 27, emphasised: "I am very happy to have signed an early contract extension with VfL. I matured into a Bundesliga player in Wolfsburg and I want to make the next steps in my development here. The fact that the club has such fate in me is wonderful confirmation of their massive belief in me. That trust is something I wish to pay back to the club."
176 competitive outings in Green-White
During the course of the current season, the 23-year-old, who was a DFB-Cup winner with the club in 2015, played 14 Bundesliga games (one goal) and participated in two DFB-Cup matches. In total, Maximilian Arnold has made 176 competitive appearances in the Green-White, scoring 23 goals along the way. In June 2017, the left-footer led Germany’s U21 national team to European Championship success in Poland as captain and claimed the title with a 1-0 championship final win over Spain. In May 2014, Arnold made his ‚A‘ national team debut against Poland.
