Silas will stay at VfB Stuttgart and extend his contract by two more years until June 2026. With this, the Swabians are sending an important signal in the Bundesliga relegation battle.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Fabian Wohlgemuth, as the new sports director of VfB Stuttgart, did not want to stay long with the premature sale or departure of Silas Katompa Mvumpa. A “high priority” is the expansion of the cooperation with the nimble winger of the Bundesliga soccer club, Wohlgemuth said at his presentation in mid-December.
Less than three weeks later, the 43-year-old successor to former squad planner Sven Mislintat followed his words with deeds. The Swabians, threatened with relegation, announced the early extension of their cooperation with Silas by two more years. The old working paper was still valid until June 30, 2024. A transfer would have been at least conceivable after this season at the latest in order to generate revenue.
This thought game is now superfluous. “I feel very comfortable here. The club offers me a very good environment to continue to improve,” said Silas, who has repeatedly been held back by injuries in his development. The 24-year-old Congolese almost completely missed the 2021/22 season due to a cruciate ligament tear, corona disease and a shoulder injury.
It wasn’t until this season that he found his rhythm again and established himself as a regular in a team both under ex-coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and under interim coach Michael Wimmer, which had to digest setbacks again and again. With four goals and two assists in the league and cup, Silas is currently the best scorer in table 16.
So it is hardly surprising that Wohlgemuth did not let any time pass. “With his speed and goal threat, Silas is an important factor in our offensive game,” he said, explaining the extension of his contract with Silas and looking ahead: “He still has potential that we want to develop with him over the coming months and years.” Silas came to VfB from FC Paris in the summer of 2019 and has played 83 competitive games since then. He scored 25 goals and prepared 15 goals.
However, his time in Stuttgart was not always easy off the pitch either. In June 2021, VfB announced that Silas had previously played under a false identity. As a presumed victim of the machinations of a dubious players’ agent, he then had to serve a ban and pay a fine.
Together with his teammates and the new coach Bruno Labbadia, Silas will be preparing for the rest of the season and the fight to stay up in the league in Marbella, Spain, starting Monday. For sports director Wohlgemuth, however, the search for potential reinforcements continues. Further contract talks are also likely to be forthcoming. But he can already put a check on the Silas personnel, who recently enjoyed “high priority”.
