VfL Wolfsburg, TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart have all registered serious interest in the 18-year-old Swiss striker, according to Fussball Transfers, joining a group that also includes OGC Nice, OSC Lille, Ajax Amsterdam, FC Utrecht, NEC Nijmegen and RSC Anderlecht.
Despotovic's five-year contract, signed until 2029, was intended to provide Lausanne with leverage. Whether it is sufficient to resist the interest of multiple top European leagues simultaneously is the question the club now faces.
The Zürich-born forward has been one of the most prolific teenagers in Swiss football. He scored 15 goals in 14 appearances for Lausanne's Under-17 side in the 2024-25 season — a remarkable rate of production that prompted a fast-tracked move into the reserve side and first-team squad. This season, split between the Under-19s and the second team, he has contributed six goals in 24 appearances.
He has already earned call-ups to Switzerland's Under-18 national team, appearing in UEFA development tournaments and impressing Swiss federation selectors with his movement, finishing instinct and physical presence at senior under-age level.
The Bundesliga trio's interest reflects the market's trend toward identifying Swiss development players — a system that has produced Michael Aebischer, Dan Ndoye and Ardon Jashari in recent years and carries an increasingly strong reputation across Germany for producing technically accomplished, physically ready forwards.
Lausanne have not confirmed any approach publicly and are not under financial pressure to sell. However, the presence of a contract clause permitting international clubs to trigger a buyout is understood to make Despotovic accessible at the right price — believed to be in the region of €3 million to €4 million given his age and profile.
At 18, he remains more than two years from a realistic first-team debut at a top Bundesliga club. Whichever club moves first is investing in potential rather than proven output.
The potential, by the numbers, appears substantial.