VfB Stuttgart is considering installing Horst Heldt as the new sporting director. The background is disagreements between the current sports director Sven Mislintat and CEO Alexander Wehrle.

According to a report by Sky, the Swabians have already had initial talks with Heldt. The 52-year-old is said to be Wehrle's preferred candidate for a possible Mislintat successor. Heldt and Wehrle worked together at 1. FC Köln between 2019 and 2021. In addition, Heldt worked in management at VfB from 2006 to 2010, having previously ended his playing career in Stuttgart.

It is unlikely that Sven Mislintat, whose contract expires in the summer, will stay with the current penultimate table beyond the season. Contract talks between Mislintat and Wehrle were originally planned for mid-November. However, the cooperation between the two responsible persons is so severely disrupted that it is possible that the planned talks about an extension of Mislintat's working paper will not even take place.

Most recently, Wehrle single-handedly decided to entrust Sami Khedira and Philipp Lahm with an advisory role and to make Christian Gentner head of the licensed players department. Mislintat was not involved in the proceedings, although they directly affect his area of ​​work.

According to Sky, the disrupted internal relationship is particularly evident when looking for a trainer. For example, Domenico Tedesco, Zsolt Löw and Sebastian Hoeneß are said to have refrained from getting involved, among other things, with a view to the leadership dispute in Stuttgart. Discussions were held, but internal coordination problems prevented them from becoming concrete.

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as Differences between Wehrle and Mislintat: VfB Stuttgart hold talks with Horst Heldt.