Nameable new arrival for third-division football club Viktoria Köln. Mike Wunderlich returns from 1. FC Kaiserslautern to the cathedral city.
Transfer coup for Viktoria Köln: Mike Wunderlich returns from 1. FC Kaiserslautern to the seventh-placed team in the 3rd division. The third division club made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon. The 36-year-old veteran had previously terminated his contract at Kaiserslautern.
For Wunderlich, it is a return to the club for which he already played from 2011 and 2021. Even more: With 324 appearances, he is Viktoria’s record player. And the 190 goals he scored for the Domstädter are also by far the club’s best. With the Cologne-born player, the club rose from the NRW-Liga to the 3rd League.
“I’m looking forward to lacing up my football boots for Viktoria again in the second half of the season,” says the attacking player, whose father Franz is the Cologne club’s sports director.
Wunderlich continues: “I know the Sportpark Höhenberg and Viktoria as well as my own living room. The club has undergone an impressive development over the past year and a half. I am proud to be a part of it again. With the move back to the Schäl Sick, I’m also already preparing for the time after my active career. “
According to Wunderlich, he wants to take a step back after the current season. He showed in the first half of the season with Kaiserslautern that he can still compete in the 2nd Bundesliga at an advanced age. Wunderlich made 15 appearances (eight times in the starting eleven) and scored four goals for the league newcomers, who surprisingly finished the first half of the season in fourth place.
Wunderlich moved to the Palatinate in the summer of 2021. With seven goals and eight assists, he contributed to the promotion to the 2nd Division. Now the attacker is leaving the “Red Devils” in favour of his heart’s club.
“Mike Wunderlich approached us and asked for an early termination of his contract. We agreed with a heavy heart. Mike leaves a big gap with us, on and off the pitch. We would have liked to keep him as a player, but also as a personality, but we respect his wish,” said Kaiserslautern’s managing director Thomas Hengen. “Mike has always conducted himself in a highly professional manner and, as part of the promotion-winning team, will always remain a deserving player of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. “
