“We have always said that if an interesting player came available, then we would take advantage of it. Nuri is one of those kind of players. We are delighted to sign a player of his quality,” explained director of football Frank Baumann. Another reason for the transfer was the delay in Ole Käuper’s return from injury. “After receiving a diagnosis for Ole’s injury nothing has changed. However recent signs have suggested that the healing time will be longer than initially anticipated. Ole will be able to rejoin first-team training at the beginning of October at the earliest.”

Werder head coach Florian Kohfeldt is looking forward to working with the 29-year-old: “I think we all know about the quality that Nuri will bring. Nuri has experienced almost everything in the Bundesliga, having won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal with Dortmund, as well as having spells with Real Madrid and Liverpool. He has the potential to improve us further and gives us another dimension. Nuri isn’t an option for the Frankfurt game, so the fans will have to wait till the friendly in Leer to see him in a Werder shirt for the first time.”

Nuri Sahin is looking forward to his new role at Werder: “The talks with the coach and the hierarchy have been encouraging. Werder is a big club which constantly wants to grow. I’m excited to be a part of it now."

Nuri Sahin began his football career at RSV Meinerzhagen before moving to Borussia Dortmund’s academy. His greatest achievement of his career so far was being part of the Dortmund team that won the 2011 Bundesliga title. He subsequently moved to Real Madrid, winning La Liga in 2012, before a loan move to Liverpool and eventually returning to BVB in 2013. He also won the DFB-Pokal with Dortmund in 2017. Sahin has scored 21 goals in 223 Bundesliga appearances, as well as scoring one goal in 24 Champions League appearances. Sahin also has 52 Turkey caps, scoring twice.