Bundesliga soccer club Holstein Kiel has parted ways with its sporting director Carsten Wehlmann with immediate effect. The 53-year-old's successor has already been appointed. On Tuesday after Easter, Olaf Rebbe will take up his post at the bottom of the table. The 46-year-old was most recently sporting director at 1. FC Nuremberg.
"Carsten Wehlmann had the challenging task of putting Holstein Kiel in the best possible position for the Bundesliga. The fact that the team still has the chance to avoid relegation shortly before the end of the season shows that he has succeeded in doing so in a strong league with economically much more potent competitors," Kiel's supervisory board chairman Stefan Tholund was quoted as saying in a club statement: "Nevertheless, we have come to the conclusion that the club needs a new sporting management structure at this time."
Wehlmann recently extended the contract with coach Marcel Rapp
Wehlmann had been working for Kiel since March last year. In his role as sporting director, he most recently extended the contract with coach Marcel Rapp until the end of the 2027/28 season.
"Olaf Rebbe is a nationally and internationally experienced sporting director who has proven in the recent past that he can act prudently and successfully on the transfer market under the respective conditions of the clubs," said supervisory board boss Tholund about Rebbe, who will be officially introduced at a press conference on Wednesday. Before his time in Nuremberg, Rebbe worked as sporting director at VfL Wolfsburg, Huddersfield Town in England and PAOK Saloniki in Greece.
With five matchdays to go until the end of the season, Kiel are four points behind 1. FC Heidenheim in the relegation places. On Saturday (3.30 pm/Sky), Rapp's team will play at fourth-placed RB Leipzig.
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