 In three and half seasons with VfL Wolfsburg's first team, he made 85 Bundesliga appearances and scored 31 goals for the club in the league.In July 2005, he transferred to Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds, but spent only six months with the club and scored eight goals in 13 J1 League appearances for the team.He returned to Germany with the beginning of the year 2006 and signed a three-and-half-year contract with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, a third-division Regionalliga Süd side with strong ambitions of being promoted to the Second Bundesliga.