“It is understandable that Marco would consider an offer from a top-flight club that is playing European football. Nevertheless, his behavior with respect to the team, the fans and the club one day before a competitive game was out of order. As already announced, Marco will receive a fine. He has accepted this and it will go towards a Werder social project, amongst other things. Despite his behavior last weekend, we will move on from this. We are sure that from now on Marco’s full focus will be on Werder again.”

This was underlined by Marco Friedl himself: “I have always felt good at Werder, and that is something that hasn’t changed. I want to continue helping to build something here.” Marco put the events of the weekend down to his specific situation. “Although I am very happy to be at Werder, for any footballer it is always the aim to be playing at as high a level as possible. I made my decision based on a concrete offer made to Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon. Everything becomes more intense towards the end of the transfer window and there is very little time for decisions. Of course I thought about it a lot and I think anyone would understand that. After the offer on Saturday I found myself in a dilemma and I wasn’t able to concentrate fully on the match, which I told the coach on Saturday evening. It was never my intention to disrupt the team or the club, or to disappoint the fans.”