While VfB Stuttgart spent weeks in the summer courting the services of new striker signing Dzenan Pejcinovic, several players left the club and the rumour mill regarding possible departures is still bubbling away, Nikolas Nartey quietly emerged as pre-season's big winner. In a way, that suits his personality too.
The Dane is not a man of big words, shuns the public eye and leaves the spotlight to others. His focus is on his performances on the pitch, and they looked set to be needed more than ever at the start of the new Bundesliga season. But after nine minutes of the first competitive match of the season, that was over again. Instead of finally establishing himself at VfB, Nartey suffered a muscle injury to the back of his thigh in the DFB Cup against Hansa Rostock and will be out for weeks.
For VfB and Nartey, the setback has come at the worst possible time. Bad luck has followed him through a career that is still young compared with his lengthy medical record. The 26-year-old was on the verge of starting the Bundesliga season as a regular. Not in his natural role as a central midfielder. Not one line further forward or at left-back, where he has filled in before. But in unfamiliar territory, at right-back.
With Lorenz Assignon sidelined, Nartey would have been far more than a stop-gap. The defender, who arrived from Stade Rennes last summer for 12 million euros, is still struggling with the after-effects of shoulder surgery undergone at the end of the season. Nartey had thoroughly earned his new standing. Josha Vagnoman's situation only underlined that.
Like Nartey, the two-time international completed the full pre-season. Even so, Vagnoman clearly slipped behind him in the pecking order. Hoeneß appeared to have concerns over his inconsistent performances in the recent past. Now Vagnoman will travel to Munich as the first-choice solution for the opener, while the injury-prone returning loanee Leonidas Sterigou is still a long way from the starting XI and Finn Jeltsch is needed in his preferred position in central defence.
Against Rostock, Vagnoman replaced Nartey and even set up Pejcinovic's third goal. On Friday, the 25-year-old faces the toughest possible test when none other than Luis Diaz is likely to line up against him. In his debut season, the left winger delivered 15 goals and 17 assists for Bayern Munich. Stuttgart's injury list, already bursting at the seams, only makes the task look even bigger.
IMAGOVfB Stuttgart hit by bad luck: Which players are missing against Bayern Munich?
Nartey was not the only player whose afternoon in Rostock ended early. Chris Führich also left the pitch carrying a knock after taking a blow to the thigh, with VfB initially keeping their cards close to their chest regarding his condition. If the worst fears surrounding the attacking player come true, who almost forced his way onto the World Cup train with outstanding performances in the run-in, Hoeneß would currently be without eight (!) potential starters for the opener against Bayern.
Alongside Nartey, Führich and Assignon, Dan-Axel Zagadou (thigh injury) and the new No. 1 Dennis Seimen will definitely be unavailable. The latter returned from his loan at Paderborn with great expectations on his shoulders, before suffering a serious thigh injury shortly after his return to the Neckar. The 20-year-old, regarded as one of the country's biggest goalkeeping talents, is not expected to be back between the posts until the end of September at the earliest.
Fabian Bredlow will replace him because the decision-makers around sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth deliberately chose against moving in the transfer market and placed their trust in the veteran for the transitional period.
Meanwhile, centre-backs Ramon Hendriks and Luca Jaquez (both muscular problems) are doubtful, as is the 15-million-euro new signing Leo Sauer, who could theoretically replace Führich in a like-for-like role on the left wing. The Slovak only recently returned to team training after suffering a painful partial muscle tear at former club Feyenoord Rotterdam at the end of March.
On top of that, Hoeneß will probably also have to do without long-term patient Justin Diehl (thigh injury) and Jeremy Arevalo (back problems). The talented attacking duo were mainly parked with the second team last season, but amid the injury crisis they could still have been options from the bench.
That makes the loss of Stuttgart's utility man Nartey all the more painful. He had wanted to open a new chapter in his own fairy tale in an unfamiliar role. Instead, the next spell of rotten luck arrived.
VfB Stuttgart: Why did Nikolas Nartey even think about retiring?
Nartey's career has been a rollercoaster so far, with far more drops than climbs. He has been through an alarming spell of suffering with a string of injuries that can scarcely still be counted on two hands. Knee, ligaments, abdominal muscles, adductors, muscle fibres: Nartey's body has taken almost the full set of injuries a footballer can suffer. In his case, however, it happened within a single year. The absolute low point came shortly after his return and two appearances in the 2023 relegation play-off against Hamburger SV.
The fresh start planned for the following season quickly fell apart again. Then it got even worse. Cartilage damage in the knee paired with thigh problems put him out for two and a half years (!). At times, he is even said to have considered retirement. Nartey missed more than 100 matches in five seasons at VfB, who had initially loaned him to Hansa Rostock and then SV Sandhausen after his arrival in 2019.
Still, Stuttgart's decision-makers never lost faith in Nartey. Shortly after his first knee operation in 2022, the 1.86-metre left-footer received a new contract. Five days before it was due to expire in summer 2025, the deal, with heavily performance-related terms, was extended by another season, even though he had only made his latest comeback on matchday 34. Wohlgemuth and Co. could hardly have been blamed for going their separate ways. But that faith paid off.
Getty ImagesHow important was Nikolas Nartey for VfB Stuttgart last season?
Apart from a forced absence of around two weeks, Nartey stayed fit and impressed with strong performances, which ultimately earned him an improved contract extension until 2028. A deserved reward, as Wohlgemuth also stressed when announcing it in May. "Nikolas Nartey's path at VfB has, as is well known, for a long time been anything but easy due to injury. That makes us all the more pleased that Niko has developed over recent months into a stable and important factor within our team," the 47-year-old explained, before following up with words that almost would have come true at the very start of the season: "Niko can provide important impetus for our game in various positions, which is why extending his contract again was the logical step for us. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Niko."
Nartey finished with four goals and four assists in all competitions, and since March he has also been able to call himself a Denmark international. Before his tragic cameo in Rostock, his outings at right-back had been limited to a brief Bundesliga appearance at Mainz 05 (2-2) and a somewhat surprising start, with Assignon spending 90 minutes on the bench, against Porto in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 (1-2).
For the most part, Nartey operated in central or attacking midfield. Compared with his rivals, that gives Hoeneß a completely different option on the right side of defence and a huge amount of flexibility. Nartey also occupied his favoured position in the first of his 38 appearances last season: in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, when he came on a few minutes from time. Against Bayern Munich.
Almost exactly a year later, with a completely different standing, his involvement, as Wohlgemuth predicted when he signed his contract extension, would have been more important than ever. Instead, he has become a symbol of Stuttgart's injury misfortune.
Nikolas Nartey: Statistics at VfB Stuttgart before and in the 2025/26 season
Season | before the 2025/26 season | in the 2025/26 season |
Matches | 22 | 39 |
Goals | 0 | 4 |
Assists | 0 | 4 |
Minutes played | 976 | 1.559 |