After joining VfL Wolfsburg last summer, Bruno Katz has already spent time with the Wolves first team at their training camp – but he still has lofty ambitions. The 17-year-old not only has great potential, but a sporting ancestry dating back to the 1924 Olympic Games.
Different intensity
In football terms, Katz entered a different world when he signed for the Wolves a century later. “The intensity is much higher, the game is played at a faster pace and in a more direct manner,” he said when asked how German football differs from the game in his native Finland. Katz has already found his feet at U19 level, having been a regular member of Daniel Bauer’s squad at just 16 years of age last season, but the teenager is determined to be more involved with the first team this term, saying: “I hope I’ll play a big role.”
Katz has already been rewarded for his hard work last campaign: He gets to train with the senior side on a regular basis, was involved in the first team’s pre-season friendlies under new head coach Paul Simonis, and was even part of their training camp in Thuringia – along with fellow youngsters Trevor Benedict and Jan Bürger. “It’s a really good feeling, but I still have a long way to go,” he said. “That was just the beginning.”
Football in the blood
Katz took his very first steps as a footballer in Helsinki, turning out for Käpylän Pallo when he was just three years old before moving to HJK Helsinki, Finland’s biggest and most successful club. The VfL youngster has his brother Kalle to thank for persuading him to take up the sport in the first place. “He was and is my role model,” he said of his sibling, who also played for Käpylän Pallo in his youth and has since won three domestic cups and a Finnish league title. The brothers remain in close touch. “We phone almost every day,” said Bruno. “He watches the highlights of my games and gives me tips. It’s an enormous help.”
Famous nickname
Katz’s distant relative, Elias Katz, won gold for Finland in the 3,000-metre team race at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. “I obviously know the story, it’s really cool,” said the VfL youngster, who only recently discovered that Elias played football for Turku Makkabi before embarking on his athletics career. The two relatives also share a nickname, ‘Katze’ – or ‘Cat’ in English. “Our rehab and fitness coach at the academy, Oliver Mutschler, called me that, and then it just stuck,” said Katz.
A box of tricks with a clear goal
Creative, dangerous in front of goal and “unpredictable” – to borrow his own phrase – Katz is impossible to keep quiet on the pitch. He is currently working particularly hard on his physical fitness and endurance, with the aim of making his breakthrough at first-team level. “I want to make my Bundesliga debut,” he said, adding that he also wants to be part of the Finnish squad at the European Under-19 Championship. Katz has represented Finland since the U15s, scoring 11 goals in 32 youth appearances for his country. Last year, he was even named Finland’s best youth player of 2024.
Reinforcements from home
Katz currently lives with several of his team-mates at the VfL academy. Much to his delight, he was recently joined by compatriot Otto Paananen. “It’s nice to speak Finnish again from time to time,” he admitted.
