VfL Bochum has signed a new head scout. Sports director Dirk Dufner already knows him from previous positions.

It was already clear that VfL Bochum would be restructuring its scouting department. Now, the second division soccer club has introduced the new strong man in this department. Babacar Wane is taking over as head scout and completed his first official day of work at the training camp in Austria on Tuesday. The 60-year-old comes from Bundesliga club FC Augsburg, where he held the same position. Prior to that, he was responsible for scouting at Hertha BSC, Eintracht Frankfurt, and FC Augsburg. He has a total of nine years of experience in this position in the Bundesliga. The Mauritanian-born scout also holds a UEFA Pro coaching license. “Babacar Wane is one of the top experts in his field in Germany and has excellent national and international connections,” emphasized Bochum’s sporting director Dirk Dufner. He should know, as the two know each other from their time in Freiburg and Berlin. When the opportunity arose to follow Dufner to Bochum, Wane asked FC Augsburg for his release. Dufner: “I know from working with him that I can rely on his judgment. Together, we will professionalize the scouting department at VfL and thus create added value for the club.”

Wane succeeds Carsten Schüpmann-Haase, who was released some time ago. There has been dissatisfaction with scouting at Castroper Straße recently. Coach Dieter Hecking publicly criticized the department at a press conference in May: “As far as our scouting department is concerned, I haven’t been entirely happy in recent weeks. I would have liked to see more preparatory work and more input,“ he said at the time. ”That wasn’t good enough, and I’m very critical of that. These are things that we as the coaching staff are currently working on.”

Now Wane is tasked with making a fresh start in this crucial area.