Leipzig signs wing back Ridle Baku from Bundesliga rival Wolfsburg

By Canadian Press on January 10, 2025.

LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Leipzig has signed wing back Ridle Baku from Bundesliga rival Wolfsburg after an injury to Benjamin Henrichs.

Leipzig said Friday that the 26-year-old Baku had signed a 2 1/2-year contract to 2027. He will be available for Sunday’s home game against Werder Bremen as the league restarts this weekend after its winter break.

“Ridle will give us more options in the future,” Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schäfer said. “He can play anywhere on the right side, loves to get forward, is a good finisher and tackler, and comfortable in possession too.”

Baku’s contract with Wolfsburg was set to expire at the end of the season. Kicker reported that the clubs had agreed on a transfer fee of under 5 million euros ($5.1 million) for the player.

Baku, who was born in Mainz, made his Bundesliga debut against Leipzig for Mainz in 2018. He joined Wolfsburg in 2020 and established himself as a regular at the Volkswagen-backed club. Altogether he scored 20 goals in 166 appearances for the team.

Baku made his debut for Germany under Joachim Löw in a friendly against the Czech Republic in November 2020, and made three more appearances for the team in World Cup qualifying in 2021, but hasn’t been called up since.

Henrichs ruptured an Achilles tendon in his right foot in Leipzig’s 5-1 loss at Bayern Munich on Dec. 20 before the winter break. The club said he “will remain out of action for a while.”

Leipzig has struggled so far this season, losing all its games in the Champions League and dropping points in seven of its 15 games in the Bundesliga.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press