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Lena Obderdorf is moving from VfL Wolfsburg to FC Bayern Munich

Photo: Oliver Hardt / DFB / Getty Images

The FC Bayern Munich footballers are strengthening themselves for the coming season with national player Lena Oberdorf. The 22-year-old is moving from VfL Wolfsburg to the biggest national title rivals in the summer. There she signed a contract until June 2028, as the club announced. 

This is made possible by an exit clause in Oberdorf's Wolfsburg contract, which runs until 2025. Bayern do not provide any information about the transfer fee to be paid; in media reports the figures fluctuate between 250,000 and 450,000 euros. In any case, so much money has never been paid for a German footballer. In Munich, Oberdorf will meet numerous DFB colleagues, including Giulia Gwinn, Klara Bühl and Lea Schüller.

»I was also shown where my potential lies and what else can be gotten out of me. I think I'm not a complete player yet - but I want to get there," Oberdorf is quoted as saying in the statement.

"Lena Oberdorf is one of the most talented players in Germany and has a great future ahead of her," said Bianca Rech, head of the women's department: "We are very happy that we were able to convince Lena to join FC Bayern."

According to media reports, the Munich team prevailed against well-known competition such as Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain in their courtship for Oberdorf. The exceptional German talent is not considered FCB's biggest fan: Before the 2022 European Championship, Oberdorf told "Sport-Bild" in reference to a song by Toten Hosen ("I would never go to FC Bayern Munich") that she could " I can't even imagine going to Bayern." “Even when Bayern played against Dortmund, I was more for Dortmund,” added Schalke sympathizer Oberdorf at the time.

However, the sporting development at FC Bayern now serves as a strong argument for a change: the champions from Munich are also leading the Bundesliga table this season, with a 2-1 win in the first leg of the league. The only Wolfsburg goal scorer at the time: Lena Oberdorf.

Wolfsburg, second in the table, is losing its next national player after the departure of left-back Felicitas Rauch (North Carolina Courage) - but at the same time is improving in midfield: Janina Minge is joining VfL from SC Freiburg in the summer, and the 24-year-old already has two international matches completed for the DFB team.

Oberdorf has played 44 international matches with the DFB senior national team and appeared in 99 Bundesliga games. In 2018 she made her Bundesliga debut for SGS Essen before joining VfL Wolfsburg in 2020. In 2022 she was voted the best young player of the tournament at the European Championships in England.

cev/sid/dpa