Wolfsburg appoints Van Bommel as new head coach

BERLIN - Former Bayern Munich player and Netherlands international Mark van Bommel will take the helm at Wolfsburg, the "Wolves" announced in an official statement on Wednesday.

Van Bommel replaced Oliver Glasner, who joined league rivals Eintracht Frankfurt, and penned a two-year deal, which binds the Dutchman to the Bundesliga outfit until June 2023.

"We have dealt intensively with Mark van Bommel and our talks have confirmed our impression that he perfectly fits our philosophy," Wolfsburg's managing director Jorg Schmadtke told the club's official homepage. "He is an internationally recognized football expert and knows what to expect in the Bundesliga."

The 44-year-old head coach knows the Bundesliga very well indeed as he wore Bayern's jersey from 2006 until 2011 and lifted the German double twice as the team captain.

"Being able to work as a coach in the Bundesliga, in which I have played for so long is a great honour and challenge for me, which I will tackle together with everyone involved with a lot of joy and great commitment," said van Bommel.

In 2013 van Bommel hung up his football boots before he took the reins at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in 2018 after succeeding Phillip Cocu as head coach. With PSV he was able to secure a top-two finish but still was sacked in December 2019 after pocketing just two wins in 12 games.

Wolfsburg completed the 2020-21 Bundesliga season on the 4th place of the standings and sealed a UEFA Champions League berth for the first time since the season 2015-16.