Thinking about Europe “is part of it”
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At SV Werder Bremen, after only two defeats in the last eleven Bundesliga games and the jump to eighth place, there is slight hope of a return to international business after 14 years. Full-back Felix Agu has played a part in the recent stable performances, having had a regular place almost exactly since the beginning of this good series, mostly on the left and sometimes on the right side in coach Ole Werner’s 3-5-2 system. The 24-year-old had missed almost a whole year due to injury until September 2023.
“It’s just nice to be back on the pitch. Especially after such a long injury break. Just being pain-free again gave me a lot of joy,” says Agu in an interview with Transfermarkt before the top game on Saturday evening (6.30 p.m. in the TM live ticker) against Borussia Dortmund. Patellar tendon problems forced the Osnabrück native to take a long break since the end of October, and he finally had to have an operation in May. That’s why Agu, who was also a regular in the 2021/22 promotion season, missed 27 games in the green-white jersey, but then lost his place in the Bundesliga for the time being.
The former U21 national player continued: “The fact that things are going well on the pitch is of course even nicer. Since I’ve been fit again, despite the long downtime and the now weekly game load, I’ve gotten through it without any major physical problems and I hope it stays that way.”
Long injury break was “definitely not easy” for Werder Bremen’s Felix Agu
The long break was “definitely not easy” for him, “since it was difficult to predict when exactly I would come back and of course after twelve months it is not always clear what kind of footballing condition I will be in.” Werder head coach Werner I made it clear to him that he would give him the time he needed and that he should get tougher through training and test matches, said Agu.
The fast full-back with offensive urges was in the squad for the first time on matchday 6 against Darmstadt (2:4). He made his first short appearance in a 2-0 win over Union Berlin four weeks later. “I would say that for the length of my injury, after a relatively short period of time I made the coach feel like he could rely on me again. And then he kept giving me chances that I was able to take advantage of.”
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When asked whether Werner can no longer get past the fact that Werder has only won twice this season without Agu and six times with him, he answers modestly: “I think that we have found each other quite well as a team in the last few weeks and therefore performed well. I’m of course happy that I was able to make my contribution, but I would rather say that, as I said, we simply did well as a team.” With regard to the remaining ten Bundesliga games, it’s now a matter of “week by week “To perform well every week and to work hard” – there are “still a few” opportunities for personal development as well as that of the entire team.
European Cup in mind? This is part of Werder Bremen’s Felix Agu
If Agu and Werder Bremen maintain the level of the past few weeks, they may even be able to make it into the European Cup for the first time since the 2010/11 Champions League group phase. If the Bundesliga ends up in the top two in the UEFA five-year ranking for 2023/24 and Bayer Leverkusen wins the DFB Cup, the eighth-placed team will win the Conference League. Even though ex-Werder striker Niclas Füllkrug (31) warns against having too high expectations (see article), this cannot be ignored, Agu admits: “As I said, it is nicer to pursue a higher goal than simply staying in the league And given our position in the table, it’s obviously important to think about it.”
Nevertheless, the team knows “how narrow the field around us is.” Eintracht Frankfurt (37 points) in sixth place is seven points behind, more than the lead over the 15th place in the table. VfL Bochum (25). That’s why, according to Agu, Bremen “can’t rest on their laurels at the start of the second half of the season,” but must “push our performance limits week after week in order to keep scoring points.” Then at the end we’ll see what it’s enough for.”
Felix Agu arouses interest – no contract talks with Werder Bremen yet
Agu’s contract ends in 2025 and, according to transfer market information, the good performances and sometimes spectacular wing runs have put the professional in one or two of the notebooks of well-off clubs. An increase in the market value, currently estimated at 600,000 euros, which was at a high of 2.5 million euros by June 2022, is currently a hot topic in the TM market value analysis (on the thread). The Bundesliga market values will be updated again on March 27th.
However, he is not concerned with his own future, and there have not yet been any “concrete discussions” regarding a possible extension. I’m currently happy with how things are going on the pitch, that I and we as a team have found our way well and I think I’d do well to concentrate on that first and continue to consolidate my game. I think everything else will follow.”
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