Clemens Fritz confirms Werder Bremen wanted to bring back Niclas Füllkrug

Clemens Fritz has confirmed that Werder Bremen made an unsuccessful attempt to re-sign Niclas Füllkrug during the winter transfer window.

Germany forward Niclas Füllkrug changed surroundings in January, joining AC Milan on loan from West Ham United.

The Serie A side weren’t the only club interested in the 33-year-old, who was also linked with a return to his former side Werder Bremen.

Werder’s head of professional football, Clemens Fritz, has now confirmed that the Bundesliga side indeed wanted to re-sign the striker.

“We wanted to bring Niclas Füllkrug back. I spoke to him two or three times when he was at West Ham United. But we knew that, from an economic perspective, our chances were very slim,” Fritz told Sport Bild.

Werder were looking to reinforce their attack after Bayer Leverkusen loanee Victor Boniface suffered a long-term injury. Fritz acknowledges that Boniface’s loan spell fell short of expectations.

“The financial risk for us with this loan was absolutely manageable. In retrospect – we have to be self-critical – the plan with Victor didn’t work out,” he admitted.

Ultimately, Werder strengthened their frontline by bringing in Jovan Milosevic on loan from Stuttgart during the winter transfer window.