Relegation-threatened Wolfsburg has fired sporting director Olaf Rebbe after his unsuccessful attempt to hire general manager Horst Heldt from Bundesliga rival Hannover.

Wolfsburg says Rebbe and the club are ending their cooperation and "he is being released from his duties with immediate effect."

Rebbe had been in talks with Heldt about joining, but Hannover president Martin Kind publically ended any possibility of a move on Thursday, when he said Heldt was staying with his club. Kind had previously done the same when Heldt was in talks about joining Cologne.

Rebbe had been sporting director in Wolfsburg since Dec. 2016, but the team has been languishing in the bottom half of the Bundesliga since.

With two rounds remaining this season, only goal difference was keeping Wolfsburg out of the relegation zone.

The Volkswagen-backed club made no mention of Rebbe's successor.