To German Reds.
I am confused. How come Hummels and Muller are in th German national team?
I saw picture of them in the training camp.
I thought Jogey Löw decided to not select them last time he went to the World Cup
Shit hit the fan and he/they changed his/their opinion. 
That was a quick turnaround 
. Löw was planning to play the youngsters and wasn’t prepared to give anyone a place if he was over 30 years old.
Pál Dardai will stay on as head coach for Hertha next season. Good news for continuity and he gets several injured players back.
Is he a good enough coach? Realistically, what sort of position would they be aiming for. Have the Board sort themselves?
I think so. All things considered he did a decent enough job coming back into a train wreck of a situation with the players he had available. They are getting some really important players back from injury. And truth be told, Hertha will likely never get a “big name” coach.
Choupo-Moting signs a new 2-year deal with Bayern.
I wanted to talk about this earlier.
Bayern don’t have any striker. True, the likes of Lewandowsky, Muller, and Choupo-Moting are still serviceable for another season or two, but what then?
I heard Haaland has a not so high release-clause coming into effect next summer.
Silas clarifies his identity
VfB striker Silas Wamangituka recently revealed to VfB that he had been the victim of machinations by his former player agent and that Wamangituka is not his real name. With the support of VfB and his new advisor, Silas has worked intensively over the past days and weeks to clarify the situation and finally received official documents from the Democratic Republic of Congo a few days ago. He wants to disclose all the details of how the previous deviation of his personal data could have happened to the German authorities. VfB is in contact with the German Football League DFL and the DFB. After a legal assessment of the facts, VfB assumes that Silas was and continues to be in possession of a valid playing permit. VfB further assumes that this will be replaced in due course by a new playing permit in his real name. Irrespective of this, VfB stands firmly by its player and would like to help clarify this case transparently in its interests.
Sven Mislintat says: “Silas remains the player and the person who has played his way into the hearts of our fans and his teammates since he has been here in Stuttgart. In terms of the name change, he is above all a victim. We will protect him accordingly. I have great respect for the fact that at his young age, almost on his own and without knowing the consequences, he has dared to take the step of sorting out his situation. We will continue to help him in every way possible. Silas is part of the VfB family. He should continue to play football for VfB Stuttgart next season as soon as he has recovered from his cruciate ligament rupture.”
Thomas Hitzlsperger says: “Immediately after Silas confided in us, we initiated all the measures we felt were necessary and involved the relevant authorities. We are deliberately making this unusual case public on our own initiative to emphasise that we want to proceed as transparently as possible with regard to the protection of our player. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the staff involved, to the authorities, to the DFL and the DFB, who have dealt with the issue in an absolutely conscientious, professional and discreet manner.”
Silas Katompa Mvumpa says: “I have lived in constant fear over the last few years and have also been very worried about my family in Congo. It was a difficult step for me to reveal my story. It was only with the support of my new counsellors that I dared to do so. I realised that I don’t have to be afraid any more and that together we can put everything on the table. I would not have dared to take this step if Stuttgart, my team and VfB had not become a second home for me, where I feel safe. Today, I am very relieved and I hope that I can encourage other players who have had similar experiences with agents. I am deeply grateful to VfB Stuttgart for all their trust and support during this time. I hope that I can repay them and all VfB fans on the pitch.”
According to the descriptions and documents available to VfB Stuttgart, the deviating personal data occurred as follows:
The player’s real name is Silas Katompa Mvumpa. He was born on 6 October 1998 in Kinshasa (Congo), so he is now 22 years old. In 2017, as an 18-year-old, the great talent was invited by RSC Anderlecht for a trial. For this purpose, Silas received a visa for Belgium, valid from 15 August to 14 November 2017, issued in his correct name Katompa Mvumpa. Apparently, RSC Anderlecht were interested in signing him shortly before the visa expired, but asked Silas to travel back to Congo first and return with a new visa so that they could then finalise the contract. At that time, Silas was 19 years old.
In this situation, a player agent in Belgium allegedly convinced Silas under massive pressure that he would not be allowed to return to Europe once he left Belgium and left for Congo. The name of the player’s agent is known to VfB, but they will not make it public in order to protect Silas.
In the hands of the agent
As Silas was very young, completely inexperienced and alone, he came to trust the agent, whom he already knew from an earlier encounter in Congo, and subsequently fell into a complete relationship of dependency. He lived in Paris with the agent, who largely cut him off from the world around him. Silas apparently had access neither to his bank account nor to his papers during this time, both of which were managed by the agent. According to Silas, the agent changed his identity details and provided him with papers as Silas Wamangituka (a name of his father) and with a date of birth changed by exactly one year, 6 October 1999.
According to the current assessment, the motives were not residence law considerations. In particular, Silas’ majority was not in question at any time. Rather, it was presumably to break the player’s connection to his training club in Congo. After giving different personal details, his dependence on the agent increased even more - because from then on he was susceptible to blackmail. Any revelation of the truth could have had unforeseeable consequences for him, so Silas, who was also worried about his family back home, was under enormous psychological strain. Moreover, he lived in the house and under the supervision of the agent, his salary was not paid to him, but he only received a part of it from the agent. The advisor also continuously threatened that Silas would never be allowed to play football again if the facts became public.
Confidence in VfB
Silas moved to VfB Stuttgart for the 2019/20 season. In December 2019, doubts about his identity first emerged in French press reports, which were also discussed in German media and due to which the DFL asked VfB for a statement at the time. VfB Stuttgart then examined the documents submitted by the player’s side, who was still represented by the same agent at the time, in detail, as it had done before when signing him, and had no reason to doubt them even after talking to Silas and his advisor. On this basis, Silas could presumably have continued to play professional football until the end of his career, as all the necessary papers had been checked by both French and German state authorities and were complete and formally correct.
However, after he had increasingly come to trust the people at the club and his teammates in Stuttgart and was able to detach himself from the agent bit by bit due to the physical separation, Silas revealed his coercive situation in the closest circle despite his continued great fear of his previous agent and his threats and decided to change advisors. The latter and VfB have since intensively encouraged and supported Silas in working to clarify his situation and actively approaching the responsible authorities. While sports director Sven Mislintat in particular has kept in touch with the player and his new advisors, Thomas Hitzlsperger has contacted the DFL.
In the meantime, Silas has a valid Congolese passport with his correct personal details due to his active involvement in clarifying the situation. According to all current knowledge, the provision of deviating personal data by his agent would not have been necessary for Silas to obtain a residence status in Europe. On the contrary, everything indicates that the residence permits issued in France and Germany would have been granted even if the former agent had not put Silas under exploitative pressure and if different personal data had been provided. It is also not evident that Silas derived any financial benefit from the actions of his former agent.
It is in Silas’ interest as well as in the interest of VfB to settle the matter correctly. Legal steps against his former agent are currently being examined by Silas and the persons supporting him. VfB also reserves the right to do so.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator(free version)
That is an insane story. Wow.
Horrific 
I hope that VfB hand the details of the agent to FIFA and EUFA hand have the the agent and his company barred from all football activities for life.
Not only to FIFA and UEFA, but also to the police, as this is clearly a criminal issue.
This. Definitely this.
Surely this agent has exploited other players and there are more agents acting like him. I think cross border agencies like Interpol should be involved as well.
20 November Alte Försterei.
Anyone up for joining me for a party in Berlin? It’s been a rough 18 months so it will be time to let loose and have fun.
@Dutch lets make plans to finally grab that beer!
Possibly, but even planning two weeks ahead is still precarious at the moment 
Watched the TV series… 4 BLOCKS recently…
Maybe it was just me, but it didn’t do the city of Berlin many favours me thinks.!