Wolfsburg tie up Benaglio after contract fiasco

23 January 2013 16:46

VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday extended the contract of their Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio until 2016 after it had emerged his previous deal had not been valid.

The Bundesliga outfit confirmed they had extended their 29-year-old club captain's deal to keep him tied up for the next three years, with an extra 12 months option, having discovered his previous contract was not legally binding.

Because of the problem, Bengalio could have left in June as a free agent, but the club moved fast to fix it.

"I am happy that we have found a solution and the contract extension issue is now resolved," said Benaglio in a statement.

"I have always said that the VfL is my club and I want to stay long term in Wolfsburg. I am very excited to play at least the next three years here."

The issue with Benaglio's old contract had emerged after the Swiss signed a contract extension in April 2012 with ex-coach Felix Magath, sacked by Wolves last October, who had been in charge as both coach and director of sport.

Because of Magath's unusual joint role, the contract was not signed by a second senior figure, namely Wolfsburg's finance manager Wolfgang Hotze.

Wolfsburg's director of sport Klaus Allofs said he was relieved to have resolved the matter.

"We have in recent weeks already held talks with our captain and we are pleased that we could get this successfully finished today," said Allofs, who joined Wolves from Bremen in November.

"Both sides were always clear that the co-operation will continue in any case, and Diego has always been fully behind VfL."

Source: AFP