"I want to take responsibilty"

On the eve of transfer deadline day, SV Werder again strengthened their midfield, signing Youri Regeer from Ajax. On Wednesday the 23-year-old Dutchman sat with journalists in the mixed zone and spoke to them about...

…his first days: “They were pretty busy days. I arrived in Bremen on Sunday and then had my medical and signed the contract on Monday. I was outside with the fitness coach yesterday and today I’m joining team training for the first time.”

…his first impressions: “Bremen is a big club. The stadium is great and so are the facilities here. Yesterday I went for a little stroll through the city. The weather was good; it rained the day before, so it’s exactly the same as in Holland (laughing). My first impressions are positive overall.”

…The reasons for his move: “I first had contact with the club a couple of weeks ago. Everything started moving very quickly on Sunday following Jens Stage’s injury. The talks were good from the beginning. The way in which the club officials view me as a player works perfectly for me. The Bundesliga is one of the best competitions in the world and taking Werder’s history into account, the move wasn’t a difficult decision for me.”

…contact with Davy Klaassen: “Davy sent me a message after I signed the contract. He told me what a beautiful club Werder Bremen is and that I can message him if I ever need anything.”

…his role: “I want to take responsibility. I’m a player that likes to do that in the dressing room but first of all I have to show my quality on the pitch. Every little boy dreams about playing in a stadium like the Weserstadion, so I feel joy rather than pressure.”

…being a threat on goal and comparisons with Jens Stage: “I haven’t scored many goals in the past two seasons because I was playing as a holding midfielder at Ajax. If you look at my record as a youth player then you’ll see that I can also score a lot of goals. We’ll see how it goes. Jens’ injury is difficult for us all. I think it’s important that I stay true to myself because Jens is Jens and Youri is Youri.”

…his style of play: “I’m a box-to-box player who also likes to boost the build-up play. I like to push into the penalty area and create chances for the team. I’m a player who always leaves everything on the pitch.”

…his position/flexibility: “I can play as a six and as an eight. The head coach will decide what’s best for each game. I feel most comfortable playing as an eight as a box-to-box player.”

…his shirt number: “There were a few numbers available but none of them were right for me. So I thought about which number I’d like to wear and I’ve decided to take 44 because I made my professional debut with that number.”