Junior Malanda: Wolfsburg to fly to training camp a day after death of 20-year-old midfielder in car crash

The Belgian youth international was a passenger in a car that swerved off the motorway

Malanda played against Cardiff in a pre-season friendly last summer (Getty Images)

VfL Wolfsburg have decided to fly out to a training camp in South Africa later on Sunday, a day after midfielder Junior Malanda died in a car crash, the club said.

The Belgian 20-year-old youth international was killed on Saturday when the car he was a passenger in, en route to a team meeting for their departure, swerved off the motorway, crashed into a tree and flipped over.

"We have decided to fly out this afternoon. It was no easy decision," Wolfsburg sports director Klaus Allofs told a news conference. "This would also have been in the spirit of Junior."

"We want to keep going, professionally, also for him," said Allofs. "We will meet with fans this afternoon and say goodbye together."

Wolfsburg, who went into the winter break second in the Bundesliga 11 points behind Bayern Munich, had postponed their departure to Cape Town on Saturday.

Malanda joined Wolfsburg in 2013 and had a spell on loan at Zulte Waregem.

He played 17 league games for Wolfsburg, 10 this season, scoring two goals.

"He is leaving a huge gap," coach Dieter Hecking said.

Reuters