Paul Wanner
CDMCAMCM
Austria20 years
Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
CDM
Defensive midfieldMain
2,144 min · 44 apps · 17 starts
CAM
Attacking midfield
987 min · 13 apps · 13 starts
CM
Central midfield
932 min · 11 apps · 11 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at PSV Eindhoven · independent of the season filter
Rotation
Involvement65%
Performance48%
Through the match on 4 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Paul Wanner's first senior appearance set a Bayern Munich record. He came off the bench against Borussia Mönchengladbach in January 2022, aged 16 years and 15 days, the club's youngest Bundesliga debutant. Two later loans gave the attacking midfielder longer spells in senior football.
At Elversberg in 2023/24, Wanner played in Germany's second division before stepping up to the Bundesliga with Heidenheim in 2024/25. The league's tactical analysis highlighted a distinctive choice: he often drew a defender towards himself before passing into the space that defender had left. His close control and left-footed passing made that invitation to pressure useful.
Heidenheim also put his creativity on a European stage. In October 2024 he scored the winner against Olimpija Ljubljana in the club's first Conference League league-phase match. The goal came from the rebound of his saved penalty: after his first attempt failed, he followed it in.
PSV signed him from Bayern on 22 August 2025. A player chiefly developed as a number ten was asked to work deeper. After a December league win over Heerenveen, coach Peter Bosz described him as a ball-winner learning the responsibility of playing as a six. Wanner said he had operated as both a six and an eight, aiming to stay calm on the ball while carrying it forward.
The deeper role did not remove his attacking instincts. He scored his first official PSV goal in a December 2025 cup win over GVVV. PSV went on to win the 2025/26 Dutch league title, with Wanner featuring in league matches.
His international path changed in 2026. After representing Germany at youth level, Wanner made his senior Austria debut during the March international window. Austria selected him for the World Cup that summer and reached the round of 32, where Spain ended its run.
The thread through those moves is his handling of pressure. Further forward, he could draw a marker and release a teammate between lines; deeper, he had to guard the space behind the ball while finding the next pass. That shift helps explain how his left foot and composure can serve several midfield roles without making him a conventional holding specialist.