Werder Bremen’s Transfer Window Insights: Clarifying Loan Misunderstandings and Future Aspirations

Clemens Fritz, the sporting chief of Werder Bremen, has made noteworthy remarks regarding the club’s activities during the January transfer window. In an interview with Werder’s Deichstube online fan portal, Fritz addressed the initial misunderstanding surrounding the club’s limits on loan signings, a misstep he acknowledged in a December conversation with Germany’s Sport Bild tabloid.

Initially, Fritz and his team believed that having six active loan players precluded them from acquiring additional players on loan. The roster included Karl Hein (from Arsenal), Maximilian Wöber, Isaac Schmidt (both from Leeds), Yukinari Sugawara (from Southampton), Cameron Puertas (from Al-Qadsiah), and Victor Boniface (from Leverkusen). This led the club to conclude that they had exhausted their loan options during the summer.

However, this assumption was rectified by a report from Germany’s transfermarkt.de, which clarified the regulations set by the DFL and FIFA. According to these rules, a Bundesliga club can have six loan players from both national and international sources, but only one may be from another Bundesliga club. Since only Boniface was on loan from a Bundesliga team, Werder Bremen was, in fact, eligible to pursue additional loan signings.

Fritz stated, “There was an internal communication on our part, and we messed this up. I take personal responsibility for this. We are profoundly irritated about this incident because it never should have happened.”

He added, “It is true that transfermarkt.de alerted us to the fact that our assumption was wrong. I then contacted the DFL to verify, and we were informed by an external source that further loans were indeed possible.”

Despite the confusion surrounding loan signings, Werder Bremen is still optimistic about enhancing their squad with attacking players. The recent closure of Boniface’s tenure with the club leaves him among several high-profile players, such as André Silva, Rafael Santos Borré, and Maximilian Philipp, who have not met expectations in recent years.

Fritz and the club are hopeful that new Stuttgart loanee Jovan Milosevic will defy this trend. Milosevic made a brief appearance as a substitute during Werder’s recent 3-0 defeat against Borussia Dortmund, and like his teammates, he expressed disappointment with the team’s current form, which has seen them go winless in their last six league matches since mid-November 2025.

Additionally, although former Liverpool player Naby Keïta is not classified under the “loan curse,” he remains one of the most significant transfer disappointments in the Bundesliga over the past five years. Keïta has returned from his loan at Ferencváros, but it was clear he would not continue with Werder Bremen. Consequently, he departs the club in the same manner as he arrived: on a free transfer. While Keïta’s loan included a purchase option, Ferencváros had no intention of paying the €1.5 million fee or covering the 30-year-old’s salary. Therefore, all parties agreed to terminate Keïta’s contract, and he has since rejoined Ferencváros on a new deal.