Nicklas Bendtner: Wolfsburg's Freeloader Running Out Of Time

Wolfsburg's Danish centre-forward Nicklas Bendtner, 27, is a minimum-effort, maximum-reward type of person.

Bendtner is not a Bundesliga-standard footballer, yet he is bizarrely playing for Wolfsburg, a resurgent club assembling a squad that will challenge Europe's elite.

Able to list Arsenal, Juventus and Wolfsburg on his CV, Bendtner has been blessed by the footballing lords.

Bendtner Delusion

"Denmark has not had very many players playing for big clubs since the Laudrups, so the fact that I made my debut for Arsenal was big news," Bendtner said, per Lambros Lambrou at Arsenal's website. "I have progressed well and my motivation is to do all I can to ensure that the progress continues."

Nine years and four months later, Bendtner is richer and has a cult following, but his development ceased after his Birmingham City loan.

Bendtner scored more goals for Birmingham City (12) than he did for Sunderland (eight), Juventus (zero) and Wolfsburg (five).

"Some people said [Bendtner] was not a team player [and] called him lazy," then-Birmingham City player Gary McSheffrey said, per Colin Tattum at the Birmingham Mail. "[But] with his ability, he was always capable of coming up with a big of magic that would turn a game our way."

Andy Cole, who scored 187 goals in the Premier League, noticed red flags in Bendtner's character as his team-mate at Birmingham City.

"Everyone says [Bendtner] has got qualities, and he has, but you want to see them week in, week out," Cole said, per Colin Tattum at the Birmingham Mail. "He can't just play when he fancies it because in the Premier League, that's not going to cut it."

Bendtner's youthful brashness mutated into braggadocious blame-shifting, which is probably why he has yet to justify his narcissism with a Poul Nielsen-like scoring rate.

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

You can deduct that Bendtner's ego is out of control judging by findings from sports psychologist Jacques Crevoisier.

"When Bendtner misses a chance, he is always genuinely convinced that it wasn't his fault," Crevoisier said, per Offside (h/t ESPN). "You might say that's a problem, and to a certain degree it can be. But you can also view it as this guy has a remarkable ability to come back after set-backs."

Crevoisier's latter statement is a defining point to why Bendtner has ended up on the list of major clubs.

You can only assume he interviews as convincingly as Jordan Belfort selling penny stocks.

Bendtner is so self-assured and comfortable in his skin, he momentarily dropped the word diet from his vocabulary, arriving at Juventus overweight.

Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

The repeated anti-social behaviour from Bendtner suggests he is taking his career for granted.

March 13, 2014, per BT (h/t Dominic Fifield at The Guardian): "[Bendtner] was reported to have unbuttoned his trousers and rubbed up against the side of the taxi."

November 26, 2013, per Sky News: "Nicklas Bendtner is cautioned by police over damage to the luxury Home Counties apartment building where he lives."

March 5, 2013, per BBC Sport: "Bendtner was fined 842,000 Danish Crowns (£97,200) and had his driving licence suspended for three years [due to driving under the influence]."

May 14, 2012, per Simon Bird at the Daily Mirror: "Nicklas Bendtner was axed by Martin O'Neill after being late for the [Sunderland] team bus—and now faces a search for a new club."

December 14, 2011, per Ekstrabladet (h/t the Daily Mail): "Nicklas Bendtner was involved in a bizarre incident in a Copenhagen takeaway where the striker begged other customers for free pizza."

May 7, 2009, per the Metro: "Nicklas Bendtner has made a grovelling apology after being pictured outside a nightclub with his trousers falling down, hours after the club's UEFA Champions League defeat to Manchester United."

Wolfsburg's Social Loafer

Kevin Scheidhauer: Wolfsburg → Duisburg.

Nassim Ben Khalifa: Wolfsburg → Grasshopper Club Zurich.

Rasmus Jonsson: Wolfsburg → AaB.

Stefan Kutschke: Wolfsburg → Paderborn.

During the 2014 summer transfer window, Wolfsburg offloaded four centre-forwards, so they needed a squad player, as well as signing a marquee No. 9.

Wolfsburg director of sport Klaus Allofs was priced out of buying Romelu Lukaku, who transferred from Chelsea to Everton for €35.4/£28 million.

"In terms of Lukaku, we would have done more," Allofs said, per David Wright at the Daily Express. "But I am not prepared to do deals that are worth so much."

Arsenal elected not to renew Bendtner's contract, so his Bosman status as a free transfer meant he filled a slot in Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking's first-team squad.

"We dared to touch the top shelf of players," Hecking said, per Kicker (h/t Chris Wright at ESPN FC). "It's empty now though, so we need to look a bit further down."

Hecking planned to have Ivica Olic as first choice, Bas Dost as second choice and Bendtner as third choice—coincidentally, he chose No. 3 for his shirt.

Olic moving to Hamburg in the January transfer window provided Dost an unchallenged run as the starting centre-forward.

In turn, Bendtner has by default received undeserved minutes by Wolfsburg, which is farcical because Hecking's team are the second-best club in the Bundesliga this season.

What about Bendtner's four goals in the UEFA Europa League? 

Two of the goals were scored against Krasnodar and there were 15 players who outscored Bendtner. 

Even with a chance to play semi-regularly for Wolfsburg, Bendtner is lackadaisical in match preparation.

"Nicklas was going to play from the beginning but our training session was clearly earlier than he thought," Hecking said, per BT (h/t the Guardian). "When you break those rules you have to take the consequences. But we have spoken to Nicklas and everything is OK again."

Despite Kevin De Bruyne turning into a world-class footballer, leading the Bundesliga in assists (17) and key passes per game (3.2), Bendtner is still a social loafer.

"Social loafing: The tendency to exert less effort on a task when working as part of a cooperative group." — Oxford.

• A hundred and thirty-four players in the Bundesliga have scored more goals (two) than Bendtner (one).
• Scoring once from 558 minutes over 17 games shows how ineffective Bendtner is.
• A 22.2 per cent shooting accuracy is an indictment on Bendtner's finishing.
• Bendtner does not qualify for Kicker's Bundesliga player rankings, but his rating would in theory place him at No. 207 out of 209 footballers.

"Somehow I believe that we must be worth our salaries because that is how the mechanism of society works," Bendtner said, per Thom Gibbs at The Telegraph. "Compare [my earnings] to movie actors instead."

Sure, Bendtner is a winner when you compare his bank account to the man on the street.

However, Bendtner is football's answer to Adam Sandler in being a social paradox where bottom-of-the-barrel work leads to more chances.

Wolfsburg, an ambitious club going places, deserve an upgrade over Bendtner.

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.