That sounded pretty cool.

“I just have to put it in,” said Lukas Nmecha.

Substitute, goal scored, second win in the second game of the season: what sounds like a nice, commercial story of professional football is trickier in his case.

Because Nmecha, as a highly talented striker, is not always allowed to do what he wants.

At VfL Wolfsburg he is not a regular, but a substitute. Like two years ago, when the Manchester City club loaned him out, but hardly used him. In the meantime it was passed on to Middlesbrough FC and then to RSC Anderlecht. This mess explains its primary concern. The 22-year-old Nmecha wants to play as often as possible and shine permanently. With his goal for the 2-1 success at Hertha BSC Berlin, he demonstrated his skills - as a late substitute attacker.

His topic remains topical.

Which ambitious club offers Nmecha the prospect of a lot of playing time, lots of goals and lots of fame?

VfL Wolfsburg is also on the ball in the Champions League this season, so it will need more staff than a normal Bundesliga club and has understood the player's message.

More mature and grown up

Nmecha has fully joined VfL because, unlike when he first tried it two years ago, the time for great deeds should now have come.

“Some players,” says VfL managing director Jörg Schmadtke, “need intermediate steps for their development.” He sees Nmecha as more mature and mature.

With the signing of Mark van Bommel as the new head coach, the cards in the Wolfsburg squad have been reshuffled. Brave professionals with a lot of vigor are welcome. “Our aim is that we want to win every game,” says Ridle Baku. In June he won the European title with Germany's U-21 team - alongside the unerring Nmecha, who also scored the winning goal in the final against Portugal. Now both want to recommend themselves for higher tasks in Wolfsburg. In the club and in the senior national team.

Flashback to the 2019/20 season.

With Nmecha, who was born in Hamburg and grew up in England, a self-confident young man introduces himself to Wolfsburg.

“I'm a pretty athletic player and I try everything to win,” he said a little shyly during his first interview as an employee of VfL.

What was correct in his perception did not automatically lead to the starting eleven.

On the second path of education

VfL Wolfsburg actually plans to rely on young professionals who are capable of development and who want to advance on their career path. But not all of them get through right away. Nmecha also had to experience that. Now he is embarking on a second-level career with Lower Saxony. Like Baku, he is under observation by Hansi Flick, who will be appointed to his first squad as national coach this week.

It is not outrageous that players like Baku and Nmecha are claiming the future for themselves. Baku, trained at Mainz 05 and matured into a stable professional in Wolfsburg, often gives VfL's game more dynamism than van Bommel's tactics, which focus on ball possession, dictate. And Nmecha can claim that he can shine in a more versatile way than the very enthusiastic striker Wout Weghorst. “It was great to score straight away,” said the man with jersey number 22 about his first Bundesliga club.

Is he a new addition? Or a returnee? Basically it doesn't matter. Van Bommel had to do without Nmecha for a while because he was slightly injured. Substituting him in the game at Hertha BSC was crowned with success. "With guys like that you can make the difference," said the Wolfsburg coach later. Nmecha had already initiated the attack, which Baku completed to 1: 1 (74th) - and thus the turning point after the Berlin leadership.

For Nmecha the hope is growing in Wolfsburg that he will succeed in the rise from rental goods to permanent inventory. VfL is said to have paid around eight million euros for him. As a precaution, Nmecha conducted the first interview this summer in English when he was dressed in a Wolfsburg jersey. This linguistic detour does not change the fact that its goals are clearly formulated. It is a regular place at VfL and a nomination in the squad of the "real" national team.