Wolverhampton Wanderers’ $18 Million Signing Analyzed

The Sasa Kalajdzic transfer saga is finally coming to an end for VfB Stuttgart. After being heavily linked with a transfer to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer, the Austrian forward is now set to join Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wolves had the first offer turned down last week. The Premier League side offered around €15 million plus add-ons for the $27.5 million rated 25-year-old striker. “It’s not sufficient,” Stuttgart sporting director Sven Mislintat said to the media. “His agent knows about it.”

Kalajdzic asked to be left out of the Bundesliga squad against Köln (0-0). The striker did not feel capable of playing for his club in the middle of transfer talks, a response that caused significant consternation among club officials, teammates, and fans.

The mini-strike seems to have worked, however. The Austrian forward will get his desired move away from Stuttgart. Wolves slightly improved their offer on the weekend to around $18 million with add-ons.

Although Stuttgart hoped to generate between $25-30 million, the offer is deemed acceptable. Kalajdzic, after all, will be out of contract at the end of the season and his desire to leave the club was in danger of becoming an untenable situation.

For Stuttgart, the question now becomes how to replace their forward, who has scored 24 goals and 12 assists in 60 games across all competitions. The money will likely be used to make the Tiago Tomás loan from Sporting—he has a $15 million option to buy—permanent. But Tomás is only six feet tall and occupies a very different space than Kalajdzic.

The club did bring in Luca Pfeiffer from Danish side Midtjylland in the summer. The 26-year-old played on loan at Darmstadt last season, where he scored 17 goals and six assists in 32 2. Bundesliga games.

Pfeiffer has a very interesting profile and physically could become a perfect replacement for Kalajdzic. The problem, however, is that he could also fall into that typical 2. Bundesliga category of forward, who does really well in the second division but not in the top flight. Pfeiffer was also sent off with a red card against Köln on the weekend.

Either way, replacing Kalajdzic will be difficult for Stuttgart, especially as the window closes on Thursday.

Wolves, on the other hand, have filled an essential role in their squad. In Kalajdzic, the Premier League side gets a relatively affordable striker, who can operate effectively as a target man and a typical box striker. Despite his height, Kalajdzic is also very good with his feet and should do well in the Premier League.

The transfer does raise an interesting question, though, about the future of Mexican forward Raúl Jiménez. The 31-year-old scored just six goals and four assists for Wolves in 34 Premier League games last season and has failed to get on the scoresheet this campaign. Jiménez, in fact, has not been the same since the head injury he suffered in November 2020. With Kalajdzic arriving, does this also signal the end of Jiménez at Wolves?

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth