From Home To Bundesliga Ambition

It’s around three weeks since Aaron Zehnter signed for VfL Wolfsburg. The 20-year-old hasn’t had too much time to ease himself in, as he was soon into action with the first friendly against the Beck’s XI and the Volkswagen Cup. Now at the Wolves’ training camp, the summer signing talks about his arrival in Wolfsburg, the relationship with his parents, his four minutes of Bundesliga experience – and his hunger for more.

Aaron, you’ve now been at VfL for just over three weeks. How have you settled in?

Aaron Zehnter: “I’m still living in a hotel in Wolfsburg, but ideally I’ll have my own place soon so that I can relax. This means I’m still house-hunting alongside training. But it’s also our job to adapt quickly. I had a good feeling from the start when I moved here, and that continues to be the case. That’s exactly how I imagined it.”

Is there a lot of change for you now?

Aaron: “I’m quickly finding my feet, especially as I already made a leap from Augsburg to Paderborn. That was certainly an adjustment for me with the new club and the new environment, where I also wasn’t sure how it would go. Now, the move from the second to the first division is a huge adjustment for me in footballing terms.”

To what extent is your situation now different to how it was at Paderborn?

Aaron: “The main difference is in the training. At Paderborn we certainly had a lot of quality for Bundesliga 2, but it’s something else in the Bundesliga. When you get the ball, you don’t have any time to think and you have to know immediately where to play it. That’scertainly one massive difference.”

You did actually make one Bundesliga appearance at Augsburg.

Aaron: “Yes, four minutes. I was lucky to get on in that game at Augsburg as someone got injured overnight. It might not have been the whole match but I’m still incredibly thankful for those four minutes. It’s an experience you never forget.”

You’re known as a set-piece specialist. You also took the set pieces against FSV Zwickau. Do you see that as a strength of yours?

Aaron: “Absolutely. I took over all the set pieces fairly quickly at Paderborn, which is how I got a lot of assists. If I get the chance to take the set pieces here, I’ll certainly be very happy to do so.”

After the Volkswagen Cup, it was straight to the training camp. Your parents are also here in Weimarer Land, is that right?

Aaron: “Yes, that’s right. They’re staying around 10 minutes from here with our dog, right next to a wood. They’re here until Thursday morning, then they’re driving back. They’re having a holiday here and watching training.”

Are your parents planning to attend home matches at the Volkswagen Arena?

Aaron: “That’s the plan, and they’ll do so with a little ‘fan club’ from Sonderhofen, so from home. There will certainly be another five to seven people there. Quite a few people come together when I ask the members of my local club.”

You previously mentioned to the Wolfsburg press that you wouldn’t be where you are now without your parents.

Aaron: “When I moved to Würzburg at the age of 10, that was half an hour away from us. Because I couldn’t travel to training and back at 8 pm on the bus, my parents drove me three times a week. If they hadn’t done that at the time, a lot of things wouldn’t have turned out the way they have. And also because other clubs were watching and scouting, it was important that my parents supported me.”

What was the key factor that made you choose VfL?

Aaron: “It was important to me that the club has a plan for me that’s realistic. It’s unlikely I’m going to be a first-choice starter straight away, but the possibility of playing sooner or later should be there. And I had a good feeling about that in the conversations with Sebastian [Schindzielorz].”

What aims have you set yourself?

Aaron: “My personal aim is to become a first-team regular. In the short term, though, I first want to get some minutes because every minute in the Bundesliga is valuable experience for me and I want to increase that in the long run. Of course, I want to become a top player as soon as possible and be a key performer in a few years. However, being realistic, playing time is the most important thing for now.”

Vfl-wolfsburg.de