Coulibaly among trio released by Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart confirmed the departure of three players on Thursday evening. Despite a somewhat strong finish to the season, French winger Tanguy Coulibaly will spend the summer on the market as a free-agent.
In a not-at-all unexpected move, VfB Stuttgart announced on Thursday evening that the €15 purchase clause for on-loan Portuguese attacker Tiago Tomas would not be pulled. The fact that the 20-year-old would not be remaining in Swabia counted as common knowledge in German footballing circles for quite some time.
Tomas has been nevertheless been linked with a move from his parent club, Sporting CP, to VfL Wolfsburg. Some sources even suggest that Tomas and Germany's green company team have agreed to terms on working papers. Whether or not this will come to fruition remains to be seen. Tomas did enjoy some modest success in the German top flight.
Whilst confirming the news regarding Tomas, Stuttgart also announced that the expiring contracts of two players would not be renewed. Twenty-two-year-old German-Greek defender Antonis Aidis will not remain on with the club after failing to crack the senior squad this season. In another move that VfB sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth admitted was a tough one, French attacker Tanguy Coulibaly will be released.
Coulibaly actually managed to score three league goals during the final seven fixtures of the season under Stuttgart's fourth trainer of the season, Sebastian Hoeneß. There was some talk that the 22-year-old - who joined the Württembergers from the PSG youth ranks four years ago - might be kept on. Coulibaly does still maintain an estimated market worth of €2 million in the latest transfermarkt listings.
"Tanguy was here for four years," Wohlgemuth noted in a club statement, "he went from a junior player to a seasoned professional at VfB and aided the team in the closing stages of last season in a very difficult situation with the converted penalty against Gladbach. We thank him for that and everything else most sincerely and wish him every success in his future endeavors."
Tiago #Tomás, Tanguy #Coulibaly und Antonis #Aidonis werden in der kommenden Saison nicht mehr das #VfB-Trikot tragen. Danke für euren Einsatz 👏 und alles Gute für die Zukunft❗️🤞
— VfB Stuttgart (@VfB) June 15, 2023
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