The Hannover 96 chapter was the low point in Marius Wolf’s career. The then top talent switched from TSV 1860 Munich to the Reds in 2016 for 1.5 million euros, but disappointed there across the board. After only two competitive appearances in one year, he moved on to Eintracht Frankfurt – where he became a Bundesliga shooting star and celebrated winning the DFB Cup.
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In an interview with Spox The 26-year-old, who now plays for Borussia Dortmund, spoke openly about his difficult time in Hanover. “At 96 it started to work in me. The club spent good money on me, had expectations, but then put me straight into the second team with the new coach without a real chance. I was devastated at first.” , he revealed. Wolf made two appearances in the Bundesliga under Thomas Schaaf, but quickly slipped back into the second tier.
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These homegrown players could not prevail at Hannover 96 – and they do today
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Fynn Arkenberg (defense, five professional appearances for 96): The defender started his career at TSV Havelse. From there it went to the youth of Hannover 96 in 2011, where Arkenberg went through the U17 and U19. In 2016, the high point of his career so far: The then 20-year-old was called up to play against TSG Hoffenheim and FC Bayern Munich. In total, he played five games for the Reds’ first team and 69 games for the second team before he left Hannover 96 for Halle.
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From “chicken” to cup winner
Schaaf’s successor Daniel Stendel gave him a new chance as a right-back after relegation in preparation – the position in which he started in Frankfurt. But Wolf could not prevail again. Stendel sent him to the U23s, where he also remained rather inconspicuous. In January 2017, 96 loaned the lanky talent to Eintracht Frankfurt, where coach Nico Kovac initially dubbed him a “chicken” and only used him three times. Nevertheless, after the season, the SBU pulled the purchase option of 500,000 euros. In the following season, Wolf started in the Main metropolis and played a significant role in the historic cup victory in 2018.
“I hardly had any relation to other people”
Why did Wolf never show that potential at 96? The former U21 international revealed that as a young man, he also had problems adjusting to new surroundings. “For the first time I was all alone in a strange city and had hardly any connection to other people,” he reported. “As a child you get to know friends faster, but as a professional you realize that you should pay more attention to who you trust and who you let get close to you. I sat at home alone a lot at the time and I wasn’t feeling well.”
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“I wouldn’t have made many mistakes if my parents had been around me”
However, his difficult start in professional football helped him to mature, revealed Wolf. “If you want to make it to the top in football, you have to grow up quickly. That’s the system, there’s basically no other way,” he said. And he continued: “Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages when you have to be self-employed so early on. I think many of the mistakes I made alone and far from home would not have happened to me if “My parents would have been around and kind of looking out for me. On the other hand, you don’t make the mistakes that other 26-year-olds make when you’re 26 because you made them when you were 18.”
After his outstanding year in Frankfurt, Wolf ventured to Dortmund in 2018, but was unable to assert himself there. As a player on loan, he gained match practice at Hertha BSC and 1. FC Köln and returned to BVB in summer 2021. Under Marco Rose he has significantly more playing time and has been on the pitch in 14 of 20 league games.
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