It’s fair to say if you are looking for the best of Celtic target Hannes Wolf you may be looking to avoid recency but if the player remains hungry there’s a lot to like about Wolf…
Wolf, now 22, burst on the scene at Red Bull Salzburg, before flopping somewhat at Bundesliga side Red Bull Leipzig and then subsequently moving to Borussia Monchengladbach in 2020, firstly on loan before making the move permanent. After initially impressing at Mönchengladbach, coach Ali Hutter now appears to class the attacking midfielder as surplus to requirements and alongside Trabzonspor and Rapid Vienna, Celtic are apparently in the hunt for a player who is available on loan or a permanent deal.
If you have reservations over Hannes Wolf they’d be well enough founded on recent form. However, if you are willing to gamble on a revival occurring away from the Bundesliga, there’s also enough to consider the player is worth the risk. As such a loan deal for six months with an option to buy may be the way forward, depending of course on the fee being asked by Borussia Mönchengladbach regarding a permanent deal.
LINKED ON THE CELTIC STAR…7 December…Transfer Update: Hannes Wolf linked with loan move to Celtic
Dealing with recent form there is not a lot to write home about. For an attacking midfielder a return of four goals and two assists in 51 games over the last two seasons would be a worry as would the initial season spent at Leipzig where the player managed only five appearances in total without registering a goal or assist. However, a goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach against parent club Red Bull Leipzig certainly shows when he has a point to prove Hannes Wolf knows how to make it.
However, considering the player was only just 20 when he moved to a team expected to challenge in the Bundesliga, and was making the jump from a dominating Austrian team, perhaps it’s unfair to judge on that form or indeed suggest his performances at Borussia Mönchengladbach don’t indicate there is a player who has plenty of attributes Ange Postecoglou would consider key.
For instance, when it comes to pressing, even in the last year Wolf has still shown excellent stats with 25.5 per 90 minutes, 2.71 tackles per game and 2.23 blocks per game putting him on a par with the best performers in the Bundesliga and this is despite being out of favour. He’s also in the top 25% in the league for interceptions and the top 35% for progressive passes, the top 40% of players for pass completion and the top half of all Bundesliga for dribbles completed.
LINKED ON THE CELTIC STAR…29 December…Transfer Latest: Reports in Germany say Celtic are competing with two other teams for Hannes Wolf
Despite this there are concerns. Over the last year Wolf is in the bottom 11% for shots attempted in the Bundesliga, the bottom 16% for non-penalty expected goals and the bottom 10% for shot creating actions. And for combined Non-Penalty Expected Goals plus expected goals assisted, Wolf is again in the bottom 15%. As such you can see, even solely on the stats for the last year, Hannes Wolf delivers a mixed bag or results and you can perhaps see why coach Ali Hutter has run out of patience.
However, go back a while, two years, to Wolfs’ time with Red Bull Salzburg and you can see why Celtic may be willing to take a gamble.
In a league comparable to the Scottish Premiership and at a club possibly even more dominant than Celtic, Hannes Wolf was a standout performer.
As such an argument could be made a Bundesliga move was simply too much too young for Wolf and that a move to Glasgow now may see him rebuild his confidence and have the breathing space he needs to mature as a player.
Given that David Turnbull is out for at least a couple of months I'd imagine we probably are in the market for a other midfielder to fill that void.
Both @BILD & @kicker_bl_li are reporting interest from Celtic for Borussia Monchengladbach's Hannes Wolf.
One to keep an eye on. pic.twitter.com/OVMqZFwOkl
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) January 3, 2022
Indeed, the return of 23 goals and 21 assists in the top flight from 89 games with Red Bull Salzburg is highly impressive. At Salzburg Wolf operated in a 4-2-3-1 formation where he predominately played the number 10 role and supplied the ammunition for the excellent Israeli forward Munas Dabbur, as a playmaker in that role, and at that level, Wolf excelled.
In the season before he left for Leipzig, Wolf was completing 49.6 % of his 73 actions and although his 76% pass completion on an average of 31.95 passes per game was less than other top attacking players in the Austrian Bundesliga, you do have to counter in the fact Wolf was just 19 years old at the time. In the same season, he did win 63.3% of his 6.71 dribbles attempted per game and that put him top of the tree in Austria and probably helped attract Leipzig to the player in the first place.
Wolf’s ability to win possession in the final third and play progressive passes as well as pressing the opposition incessantly were honed in Austria. In the German Bundesliga, he has kept up those high standards.
As a player he remains a fine talent in one-on-one situations, has an innate ability to find space in constricted areas and create chances for teammates. And if you do accept the figures from Austria as opposed to his time in Germany, Celtic would also be getting a player who scores as often as he assists.
If there was one other strange omission from his stats that caused some concern it would be that at 22, and having been so prolific for Red Bull Salzburg and playing regularly initially at least with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hannes Wolf has yet to win an international cap for Austria. At 22 there is still time to remedy that of course and a return to form, should he choose to join Celtic, would almost certainly ensure he would be considered, but all the same it seemed strange international football hadn’t happened just yet for Wolf.
There are certainly pros and cons for Hannes Wolf as there would be with any player, and if you judge solely on recent form, it perhaps may be viewed a gamble. However, if you believe a return to a similar standard of league would bring about a renaissance, and I do, then a loan with an option to buy could see Hannes Wolf return to form and Celtic pick up another player who looks well scouted, with a very high ceiling and ideal for Ange Postecoglou’s system.
It may yet be wishful thinking on my part but for Hannes Wolf, assuming he still has the hunger, and for Celtic assuming they are willing to discount recent form, this would probably be a deal that makes a lot of sense.
Niall J
