FC Porto Disrupt Stuttgart's Pursuit of Dzenan Pejcinovic
FC Porto have barged into Stuttgart’s carefully laid plans for Dzenan Pejcinovic – and they have done it with the force of a club that usually gets what it wants.
According to Bild, the Portuguese champions have already tested Wolfsburg’s resolve with an opening bid of around €23 million. Wolfsburg didn’t blink. The offer was rejected immediately, the signal clear: this is a seller in no mood to fold cheaply after relegation.
Wolfsburg want at least €25 million for the 21-year-old, tied down until 2029. Porto know the price. Stuttgart know it too. No one has met it yet.
Stuttgart’s dream signing meets a hard reality
For Stuttgart, Pejcinovic is not just another name on a list. Internally, he is viewed as a dream signing – a striker they want regardless of what happens with Ermedin Demirovic.
That detail matters, because Demirovic’s future has been dragged into the spotlight. A recent Sky report suggested coach Sebastian Hoeneß would be open to selling the Bosnia international, who is attracting interest from Fenerbahce and Juventus. The implication: sell Demirovic, fund Pejcinovic.
Hoeneß did not like that narrative one bit.
“I was irritated and, to be honest, also annoyed by some of what was discussed there,” he told Bild, before making his position crystal clear. “My goal is always to have the best players at VfB and Medo is one of our best players.”
So this is not a simple one-in, one-out equation. Stuttgart want to keep their captain and still add another centre-forward of real quality.
The irony? Up front, they are not short. Demirovic and Deniz Undav already form one of the Bundesliga’s most effective partnerships. Jeremy Arevalo arrived in January as a challenger and is still settling into German football. Jovan Milosevic has returned from loans at Partizan Belgrade and Werder Bremen, giving Hoeneß a fourth option at number nine, even if the Serb is expected to move on again.
Pejcinovic would turn a position of strength into outright luxury for a Champions League campaign. Depth, variety, competition – the kind of forward line you need when the anthem starts playing midweek.
Porto raise the stakes
Stuttgart have already felt Wolfsburg’s stance bite. Their last offer – a total package worth around €18 million – went nowhere. Porto’s arrival as a serious bidder has only hardened Wolfsburg’s line.
Bild now reports that Stuttgart are preparing a new proposal of €22 million. It still falls short of the €25 million asking price. With Porto in the room, there is little incentive for Wolfsburg to soften.
Porto, for their part, are reshaping their attack. Andre Silva is back from Elche to lead the line at his boyhood club. Samu Aghehowa, the dazzling attacking talent linked with Europe’s elite, is sidelined with an ACL tear until at least the end of October. His absence was covered last season by Terem Moffi, on loan from OGC Nice, and Turkey international Deniz Gül, but neither truly convinced over a sustained spell.
Pejcinovic, with his movement and penalty-box instincts, fits the profile of a striker who could grow into a central role in Porto’s next cycle. Champions League football is on offer there too – but in a league that does not carry the same weekly weight as the Bundesliga.
A striker pulled by home
This is where Stuttgart’s trump card lies.
Pejcinovic, Bild reports, would prefer to stay in Germany and sees Stuttgart as his ideal destination. He wants to leave Wolfsburg after relegation, but not the country. The sporting project is right: a fourth-placed side, a clear playing identity, Champions League football. The geography is right as well: a move to Stuttgart brings him closer to his home city of Munich.
His path already runs through southern Germany. He started in Bayern Munich’s youth system, switched to Augsburg at 12, then jumped to Wolfsburg from Augsburg’s Under-19s in 2022. After a loan at Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2. Bundesliga in 2024/25 – a season disrupted by a second metatarsal fracture – he finally broke through last term.
Across 34 appearances in all competitions for Wolfsburg, Pejcinovic scored 12 goals. In a struggling side, those numbers were enough to light up scouting reports across Europe. They were also enough to turn him into a key asset for a relegated club that now has to sell on its own terms.
Porto can offer tradition, continental exposure and a central role in a rebuilt attack. Stuttgart can offer the Bundesliga, proximity to home, and the chance to grow inside one of Germany’s most exciting projects.
For the player, it is a choice between two Champions League paths that feel very different.
Porto vs Stuttgart – again
There is another layer to this tug of war. Porto have already hurt Stuttgart once this year.
In the Europa League round of 16 last season, Porto knocked VfB out with a ruthlessly efficient tie. They won the first leg in Stuttgart 2-1, Moffi and top prospect Rodrigo Mora on the scoresheet. In the Dragão, Stuttgart created chances but left empty-handed again, beaten 2-0 and out of Europe.
Now Porto are back in Stuttgart’s orbit, this time off the pitch. The same club that ended their European run is now driving up the price of their priority transfer target.
Wolfsburg are standing firm at €25 million. Stuttgart are edging closer, Porto are circling, and Pejcinovic knows exactly where he wants to go.
The question is no longer who he prefers. It is who is willing to pay the price to turn that preference into a signature.
