Wolfsburg director of sport Allofs denies player sale threat
Wolfsburg's director of sport Klaus Allofs has refuted suggestions he threatened to sell some of his club's players after their 3-0 defeat to Schalke at the weekend.
That defeat saw the Wolves, who are without a win in the Bundesliga since November, slide five points adrift of the top six and seriously compromise their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League again next season.
It had been claimed by parts of the German media that Allofs had warned some of his players about their futures, but he insists that is not true.
"I never threatened to sell any players," he said at an event in Hanover on Monday evening, reports sport1.de. "Of course some players will leave us in future, but that's just a normal procedure."
Should the Wolves miss out on Champions League football next season, Allofs may be forced to offload more than he might have hoped for.
Given the scandal which struck the club's major backer Volkswagen, funds are set to be cut and the lack of revenue from playing in Europe would make even the sale of some of the club's bigger names inevitable.
Allofs is not writing the season off just yet, though.
"You have got to be able to show patience in football," he said. "We always knew that our rise could not continue at the rate it was going."
Wolfsburg face Gent in the last 16 of the Champions League with many favoring the Bundesliga side, who eliminated Manchester United in the group stage, to make it through to the quarter-finals.
A sustained run in Europe may negate the necessity to sell star players, but changes are nevertheless likely in the summer.
