Only played 79 minutes in the cup
©IMAGO
New signing Maximilian Wöber was only on the pitch for Werder Bremen for 79 minutes – during the first round exit in the DFB Cup at Arminia Bielefeld on August 15th, where he suffered a torn muscle. Until today, the 27-year-old defender had to watch the game due to injury. This unsatisfactory situation will not change any time soon.
“Unfortunately, it’s taking longer for Maxi. The healing of the injury is a little slower than hoped. The chances have decreased that he can still fight for points for us this year,” explained Peter Niemeyer, head of licensing at SVW, to the “Picture“. The original hope was that Wöber would be able to play again in November. The paper now wrote that 2025 was over for the new defensive man. There may still be enough time to start training in December.
At the beginning of July, Werder presented Wöber as the first new signing for the 2025/26 season. The 31-time Austrian national player came on loan from Premier League newcomers Leeds United, to whom he is tied until 2027. The Green-Whites also secured a purchase option. Wöber has been under contract with Leeds since January 2023, who then transferred a transfer fee of 12 million euros to RB Salzburg. “We are very happy that we were able to inspire Maximilian to join Werder. With him we are bringing in an internationally experienced defender whose quality will give us further stability in defense. After a difficult last season, he recently made a good comeback to the national team. We are convinced that he will continue this positive trend with us,” said Niemeyer when signing him.
Werder’s Wöber explains the misfortune of the injury
The Bundesliga knew Wöber from his first loan to Gladbach in the 2023/24 season, when he appeared on the pitch 25 times. Its market value of 14 million euros in 2023 gradually fell to just 5 million euros. In the “Dike roomIn an interview at the beginning of October, Wöber said about his injury, the origin of which was a horse kiss: “The doctors and physiotherapists told me afterwards that the chance of a muscle being so badly damaged by a blow is almost impossible. Everything must have gone wrong. It was just totally unfortunate.” There are phases in every rehab: “Sometimes you are highly motivated, then you don’t want anything to do with football. I’m on this rollercoaster right now.”
At the cup final in Bielefeld he was substituted as a precaution not because of his thigh, but because of cramps. “The next day, examinations were carried out – and suddenly I felt like half of the muscle in my thigh was missing,” explained Wöber. No one could really explain the devastating diagnosis after a “routine ultrasound appointment”.