Ex squad planner
Squad planner Tim Steidten gave an insight into the separation from Bayer Leverkusen and emphasized that the surprising step was “completely understandable” for him “to protect himself from possible conflicts of interest”. The former sporting director of Werder Bremen, who has worked in Leverkusen since 2019, had spoken to Chelsea. “I had always informed Simon (Rolfes) about this,” said the 43-year-old in an interview with the portal.dyke room“. “I can’t negotiate a transfer with a club that I might be able to work for from the summer.”
Loan player Callum Hudson-Odoi was a long-unresolved issue between the “Werkself” and Chelsea. However, it seems questionable whether Steidten, who made more than 40 player transfers during his time in Leverkusen, will actually go to London. He has not yet signed with any club and has had many talks in recent days, he explained. It is crucial for him that his word carries weight. “It has to be a role where I can implement and change things. That was the case with Werder and also with Bayer. Whether it will be a club again or a multi-club ownership model or something completely different, I don’t know yet.”
Steidten also did not rule out a return to Werder Bremen one day, if only because of the “feeling at home”. But he said: “Werder is currently in a great position with Frank Baumann, Clemens Fritz and Johannes Jahns in the sporting leadership. Of course, Werder will always be an option for me if both sides agree in the future.”
Steidten on Battle for Sargent & Azmoun – Pitcher Replacement “You Won’t Find”
Steidten had once lured Josh Sargent to the Hanseatic city for the green-whites, who later sold it at a high price. “It was an awful lot of work to convince him of Werder,” recalled the scouting expert. “I went on the recommendation of Wynton Rufer (ex-Werder professional, ed.) and quickly realized: he’s not only really good, but unfortunately everyone wants him too. Back then, Josh was playing in the U17, U19, U23 and the USA national team all at the same time. So he was first in Panama, then in the USA, it went to Europe and so on. I’m always behind. That paid off.”
Sardar Azmoun, who Steidten opened up for Leverkusen after he would have liked to lure him to the Weser when he was in Bremen, is also a blatant number. “I’ve always wanted to bring him to Werder, but he was too expensive. It worked with Bayer. For this I had to travel half of Europe, meet the owner of Zenit St. Petersburg on his yacht. That was very special and unfortunately the story has to end here (laughs).”
Former club Werder meanwhile recommends Steidten to keep Niclas Füllkrug, even if that is what the player wants: “You will not find a player like Niclas on the market at the moment. That’s why I wish he stayed. But there is also the question: What does the player want? I can imagine that Niclas would like to take the next step. His development is unbelievable, I’m really happy for him!”
TM podcast: Borowski on the golden time at Werder and Klose’s move to Bayern
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