# 2022–23 VfL Wolfsburg season

The 2022–23 season was the 78th season in the existence of VfL Wolfsburg and the club's 26th consecutive season in the top flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, VfL Wolfsburg participated in this season's editions of the DFB-Pokal. The season covers the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 28 January 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BEL | Koen Casteels (vice-captain) |
| 2 | DF | GER | Kilian Fischer |
| 3 | DF | BEL | Sebastiaan Bornauw |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Maxence Lacroix |
| 5 | DF | NED | Micky van de Ven |
| 6 | DF | BRA | Paulo Otávio |
| 7 | FW | GER | Luca Waldschmidt |
| 8 | DF | FRA | Nicolas Cozza |
| 10 | FW | GER | Lukas Nmecha |
| 12 | GK | AUT | Pavao Pervan |
| 16 | MF | POL | Jakub Kamiński |
| 18 | FW | GER | Dzenan Pejcinovic |
| 20 | MF | GER | Ridle Baku |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | MF | GER | Felix Nmecha |
| 23 | FW | DEN | Jonas Wind |
| 27 | MF | GER | Maximilian Arnold (captain) |
| 29 | MF | FRA | Josuha Guilavogui |
| 30 | GK | GER | Niklas Klinger |
| 31 | MF | GER | Yannick Gerhardt |
| 32 | MF | SWE | Mattias Svanberg |
| 33 | FW | EGY | Omar Marmoush |
| 35 | GK | GER | Philipp Schulze |
| 36 | MF | CZE | Lukáš Ambros |
| 38 | MF | CRO | Bartol Franjić |
| 39 | FW | AUT | Patrick Wimmer |
| 40 | MF | USA | Kevin Paredes |
| 42 | DF | GER | Felix Lange |

### Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | USA | Bryang Kayo (on loan at Nürnberg II until 30 June 2023) |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Aster Vranckx (on loan at AC Milan until 30 June 2023) |
| 17 | FW | GER | Maximilian Philipp (on loan at Werder Bremen until 30 June 2023) |
| 18 | DF | IRL | Anselmo García MacNulty (on loan at NAC Breda until 30 June 2023) |
| 21 | FW | POL | Bartosz Białek (on loan at Vitesse until 30 June 2023) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | FW | USA | Ulysses Llanez (on loan at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2023) |
| 34 | DF | CRO | Marin Pongračić (on loan at U.S. Lecce until 30 June 2023) |
| 39 | DF | GER | Tim Siersleben (on loan at 1. FC Heidenheim until 30 June 2023) |
| 49 | MF | ESP | Fabio Di Michele Sanchez (on loan at NAC Breda until 30 June 2023) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| 14 | MF | Josip Brekalo | Torino | Loan Return | 30 June 2022 |
| 34 | DF | Marin Pongračić | Borussia Dortmund | Loan return | 30 June 2022 |
| 33 | FW | Omar Marmoush | VfB Stuttgart | Loan return | 30 June 2022 |
| 37 | MF | Elvis Rexhbeçaj | Vfl Bochum | Loan return | 30 June 2022 |
| 29 | MF | Joshua Guilavogui | Bordeaux | Loan return | 30 June 2022 |
| 45 | GK | Lino Kasten | St. Pölten | Loan return | 30 June 2022 |
| 2 | DF | Kilian Fischer | 1. FC Nürnberg | €2,500,000 | 1 July 2022 |
| 16 | FW | Jakub Kamiński | Lech Poznań | €10,000,000 | 1 July 2022 |
| 39 | MF | Patrick Wimmer | Arminia Bielefeld | €5,000,000 | 1 July 2022 |
| 38 | MF | Bartol Franjić | Dinamo Zagreb | €7,500,000 | 1 July 2022 |
| 18 | FW | Dženan Pejčinović | FC Augsburg U19 | €1,250,000 | 14 July 2022 |
| 32 | MF | Mattias Svanberg | Bologna | €9,000,000 | 16 July 2022 |
| 8 | DF | Nicolas Cozza | Montpellier | €500,000 | 25 January 2023 |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| 28 | FW | Dodi Lukebakio | Hertha BSC | Loan return | 30 June 2022 |
| 2 | DF | William | Free transfer | Free transfer | 1 July 2022 |
| 24 | MF | Xaver Schlager | RB Leipzig | €12,000,000 | 1 July 2022 |
| 25 | DF | John Brooks | Benfica | Free transfer | 1 July 2022 |
| 18 | DF | Anselmo Garcia MacNulty | NAC Breda | Loan | 19 July 2022 |
| 49 | MF | Fabio Di Michele Sanchez | NAC Breda | Loan | 19 July 2022 |
| 19 | DF | Kevin Mbabu | Fulham | €7,000,000 | 27 July 2022 |
| 37 | MF | Elvis Rexhbeçaj | FC Augsburg | €1,700,000 | 27 July 2022 |
| 34 | DF | Marin Pongračić | Lecce | Loan | 22 August 2022 |
| 21 | FW | Bartosz Białek | Vitesse | Loan | 29 August 2022 |
| 11 | MF | Renato Steffen | FC Lugano | €750,000 | 30 August 2022 |
| 8 | MF | Aster Vranckx | AC Milan | Loan | 1 September 2022 |
| 45 | GK | Lino Kasten | Contract termination | Contract termination | 1 September 2022 |
| 9 | FW | Max Kruse | Contract termination | Contract termination | 28 November 2022 |
| 15 | DF | Jérôme Roussillon | Union Berlin | Undisclosed | 12 January 2023 |
| 14 | MF | Josip Brekalo | Fiorentina | Undisclosed | 28 January 2023 |
| 17 | FW | Maximilian Philipp | Werder Bremen | Loan | 30 January 2023 |
* ↑ Includes an option to sign permanently.
* ↑ Includes an option to sign permanently.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Bundesliga | 6 August 2022 | 27 May 2023 | Matchday 1 | 8th | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 57 | 48 | +9 | 038.24 |
| DFB-Pokal | 30 July 2022 | 31 January 2023 | First round | Round of 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 066.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 37 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 61 | 51 | +10 | 040.54 |
Source: Soccerway

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 57 | 49 | +8 | 50 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 7 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 50 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round |
| 8 | VfL Wolfsburg | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 57 | 48 | +9 | 49 | |
| 9 | Mainz 05 | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 54 | 55 | −1 | 46 | |
| 10 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 43 | |
* 1 2 Since the 2022–23 DFB-Pokal winners, RB Leipzig, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot was passed to the sixth-placed team, and the Europa Conference League play-off round spot was passed to the seventh-placed team.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: DFB

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | D | L | L | W | L | W | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | D | L | W | D | D | W | D | L | D | W | W | L | W | L | L |
| Position | 8 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 17 June 2022.

### DFB-Pokal
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | BEL | Koen Casteels | 36 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | AUT | Pavao Pervan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | GER | Niklas Klinger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | GK | GER | Philipp Schulze | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | GER | Kilian Fischer | 10 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BEL | Sebastiaan Bornauw | 28 | 1 | 23+3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Maxence Lacroix | 26 | 1 | 18+6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | NED | Micky van de Ven | 36 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | BRA | Paulo Otávio | 27 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | FRA | Nicolas Cozza | 6 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 42 | DF | GER | Felix Lange | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 16 | MF | POL | Jakub Kamiński | 33 | 5 | 25+6 | 4 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | GER | Ridle Baku | 36 | 5 | 29+4 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Felix Nmecha | 32 | 3 | 19+11 | 3 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | GER | Maximilian Arnold | 34 | 5 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | FRA | Josuha Guilavogui | 26 | 1 | 11+12 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | GER | Yannick Gerhardt | 31 | 6 | 22+7 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | SWE | Mattias Svanberg | 35 | 5 | 21+11 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| 36 | MF | CZE | Lukáš Ambros | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | CRO | Bartol Franjić | 6 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 39 | MF | AUT | Patrick Wimmer | 29 | 4 | 23+3 | 4 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 40 | MF | USA | Kevin Paredes | 24 | 1 | 1+21 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | FW | GER | Luca Waldschmidt | 20 | 5 | 4+14 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | GER | Lukas Nmecha | 18 | 4 | 10+6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | GER | Dženan Pejčinović | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | DEN | Jonas Wind | 26 | 6 | 15+9 | 6 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | EGY | Omar Marmoush | 36 | 6 | 15+18 | 5 | 2+1 | 1 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||
| 8 | MF | BEL | Aster Vranckx | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | GER | Max Kruse | 5 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SUI | Renato Steffen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | CRO | Josip Brekalo | 7 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Jérôme Roussillon | 4 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | GER | Maximilian Philipp | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | POL | Bartosz Białek | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | CRO | Marin Pongračić | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | GK | GER | Lino Kasten | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 27 May 2023 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

    As of 25 February 2023
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | Total |
| 1 | 31 | MF | | Yannick Gerhardt | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | 20 | MF | | Ridle Baku | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | 27 | MF | | Maximilian Arnold | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | 33 | FW | | Omar Marmoush | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | 10 | FW | | Lukas Nmecha | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 23 | FW | | Jonas Wind | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 32 | MF | | Mattias Svanberg | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | 7 | FW | | Luca Waldschmidt | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 16 | MF | | Jakub Kamiński | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 22 | MF | | Felix Nmecha | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 39 | MF | | Patrick Wimmer | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 4 | DF | | Maxence Lacroix | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 5 | DF | | Mickey van de Ven | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 29 | MF | | Joshua Guilavogui | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 40 | MF | | Kevin Paredes | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 42 | 4 | 46 |