){kind=logo}
Three academy products make their Bundesliga debuts in 2025
A TRIO MADE THE STEP UP FROM THE ACADEMY TO THE FIRST TEAM
23/12/25 | 3 Min
:quality(70))
An eventful year is drawing to a close in Bremen. For some Werder players, 2025 will remain particularly memorable. After all, three academy graduates who came through SV Werder Bremen’s youth setup made their Bundesliga debuts over the course of the year.
Things moved quickly for Mio Backhaus. Having started the season as understudy to Michael Zetterer, the 21-year-old suddenly saw his dream of becoming Werder’s first-choice goalkeeper come true following Zetterer’s move to Eintracht Frankfurt. Backhaus had already gained a taste of senior football during a loan spell at FC Volendam in the Eredivisie, and he made his Bundesliga debut on the opening matchday of the season, fittingly against the new club of his predecessor. The Germany U21 international later missed matches against Bayern and St. Pauli due to a shoulder injury, but returned strongly and has now racked up 13 league appearances in total.
Patrice Čović, meanwhile, experienced something entirely new when he was named in the starting XI for the DFB-Pokal tie against Arminia Bielefeld. The 18-year-old was a key figure in last season’s U19 side, which reached the semi-finals of the DFB-Nachwuchsliga and lifted the U19 DFB-Pokal. Čović went on to make his Bundesliga debut as a substitute away in Frankfurt and has now made nine top-flight appearances, starting two of them.
)
Karim Coulibaly enjoyed a rapid rise of his own. The 18-year-old, who won the U19 DFB-Pokal alongside Čović, made his Bundesliga debut in Frankfurt before creating a special moment at the Weserstadion on matchday 2. Deep into stoppage time, the centre-back scored his first Bundesliga goal in the dramatic 3-3 draw against last season’s runners-up Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Coulibaly has started 13 league matches so far, missing just one game away at Augsburg due to suspension after picking up a second yellow card against VfB Stuttgart.
And there could be more to come. Mick Schmetgens and Wesley Adeh, who like Čović and Coulibaly are still eligible for the U19s, were named in the matchday squad on five and two occasions respectively without featuring. Both currently play primarily for Werder’s Regionalliga side but regularly train with the first team, alongside Salim Musah and Stefan Smarkalev. The next potential debutants, then, are already waiting in the wings.
)
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
)
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
)
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
)
)
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))
:quality(80))