As of: February 22, 2024, 4:06 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
Clemens Fritz will succeed Frank Baumann as managing director of football at Werder Bremen.
© David Inderlied/dpa
Since Frank Baumann announced his departure as managing director of football at Werder Bremen, Clemens Fritz has been considered his successor.
Head coach Ole Werner is happy.
Bremen - Due to the circumstances, Werder Bremen coach Ole Werner had to give way to his future boss.
Before the obligatory press conference for the Bundesliga game on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky) against bottom-placed SV Darmstadt 98, he left the podium to the chairman of the supervisory board, Hubertus Hess-Grunewald, and Clemens Fritz.
The club had already announced what Hess-Grunewald announced in the press room of the Weserstadion shortly beforehand: Clemens Fritz will be managing director of football at SV Werder from the summer onwards and will therefore be the successor to Frank Baumann.
“I'm not only happy about it because I value Clemens as a person.
I also believe that during the time that I was there, he played a leading role in initiating many things in the right direction.
And in that respect he more than deserves it,” said Ole Werner.
“That’s why I believe this is the right decision for Werder Bremen.”
The coach already works closely with Fritz in his role as head of professional football.
Since Baumann announced in November that he would be giving up his position after the season, Fritz has been considered the favorite for the position.
According to Hess-Grunewald, Werder had also looked at candidates outside the club.
“We have great confidence in Clemens as a person, in his ability to act, in his strategy, in his considerations,” said the head of the control committee.
The decision was unanimous, he emphasized.
“We believe that we will have a good future with Clemens.”
The supervisory board also hired an external consulting agency to look for other possible applicants.
“We heard strong candidates,” said Hess-Grunewald.
But no one has shown that he is better suited than Fritz.
The Erfurt native has been on the Weser for a long time.
He played for Bremen from 2006 to 2017 and was also captain for many years.
After his career ended, he moved into management, at that time still under Klaus Allofs.
In 2020 he became head of professional football, working closely with Baumann.
“Werder Bremen has grown very close to my heart,” said the former national player.
“I would like to continue and develop this positive path that we have taken in recent years.” He was given the opportunity to develop at Werder, “which is not something that can be taken for granted.”
In this context, he also thanked Frank Baumann, “on the one hand, for the trust he placed in me.
But also the freedom he gave me.”
The 48-year-old Baumann has worked in management in various positions at the Bremen company since 2010.
He has been managing director of football since May 2016.
He remains connected to the club even after his departure.
In January it became known that, together with a regional alliance of entrepreneurs, he was taking over shares in the club's spun-off corporation for 38 million euros.
dpa