Just a few days before the vital clash with VfB Stuttgart, team captain Clemens Fritz has provided a real boost. The 35-year-old exclusively revealed the surprising news to WERDER.DE that he has had a change of heart in terms of his retirement.
Just a few days before the vital clash with VfB Stuttgart, team captain Clemens Fritz has provided a real boost. The 35-year-old exclusively revealed the surprising news to WERDER.DE that he has had a change of heart in terms of his retirement.
The midfielder, who has been one of Bremen’s leading men once again this season, will extend his contract by one year on Friday morning – regardless of what division the Green-Whites play in next term. Fritz, born in Erfurt, originally announced that he would retire at the end of the campaign.
Fritz revealed his decision in an exclusive interview with the club website. “I’m at the point where I’ve said, I can’t leave after the season we’ve had.” The veteran, who will head into his eleventh year at Werder this summer, stressed that cancelling his retirement was not dependant on a positive end to the campaign. “Generally speaking, I’m thoroughly convinced that we will remain in the top flight. […] However, should we fail to stay up, I will face up to the consequences, much like our so many of our fans won’t desert us. Werder is and will remain a great club.”
Clemens Fritz moved to Bremen from Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2006 and has featured in 341 competitive games for Werder to date, with 267 coming in the Bundesliga. That makes him one of the top five record appearance holders for the club in the German top flight. Fritz has played in 20 Champions League matches for SVW, as well as in 24 DFB Cup ties. It is in that competition that the now 35-year-old celebrated his biggest honour to date, lifting the trophy with Werder in 2009.
