“He's a goalgetter. His record in the Regional League speaks for itself. And I think he could do well in the Bundesliga.”
Thus spoke Felix Magath on June 18th, having just secured the services of Mahir Saglik for VfL Wolfsburg.
Goals en masse
The 25-year-old striker was snapped up, for a relatively low fee, from Wuppertaler SV, who are now playing in the newly-formed Third Division. Last season, Saglik notched 27 goals for Wuppertal in the Regional League.
That statistic was enough to convince Magath to lure the forward to “Volkswagen city” on an initial one-year contract. For Saglik, it would be his first taste of the top-flight - but he has already been around the block a bit.
It started at Paderborn
He kicked off his career at home-town club SC Paderborn in 2002, establishing himself as a first-team regular in the Regional League at the age of 19.
In his very first season Saglik knocked in 14 goals, which earned him a transfer to 2. Bundesliga side LR Ahlen. The move did not really work out, however; Saglik was given little opportunity to prove himself on the pitch, and was back at Paderborn before the end of the season.
Off to Dortmund
Another successful half-year there brought with it another move, this time to Borussia Dortmund's Regional League feeder team. Here too his stay was brief, despite a decent return of 12 goals in 30 games. Next stops were Austria's Admira Wacker Mödling and Regional League (south) outfit 1. FC Saarbrücken.
Saglik switched to Wuppertaler SV in the summer of 2007. A year on, Magath swooped and the much-travelled player was on the move again.
Vital goal at Bochum
He wasted no time making his mark at Wolfsburg, notching a brace in the 3-0 DFB Cup win at 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 before the league season was even underway. His Bundesliga debut came as a second half substitute in the 2-1 opening day victory over 1. FC Köln. The following week at Bochum, he again came off the bench, this time to net the final goal in a 2-2 draw, earning the “Wolves” a point in the process.
One for the family
After the game Saglik said, “I'm delighted to have scored my first Bundesliga goal. I'd like to dedicate that one to my family. I'm very happy the coach showed faith in me again, and I aim to pay him and the team back with good performances.”
Magath, however, was in no mood to return the compliment, saying: “No, I'm not happy. He got carried away with having scored and missed two clear-cut opportunities afterwards… if you want to be involved at this level, you need to be putting away at least two out of three chances like that - preferably all three.”
“Foot on the accelerator”
The striker took his coach's criticism to heart and vowed to do better next time: “I haven't done anything yet. It was nice to get a goal, but things move on. I'm not dwelling on it, I've just got to keep my foot on the accelerator. It does annoy me though that I didn't score another one.”
And in Volkswagen city, keeping your foot on the accelerator is surely as good a maxim as any.
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