Naby Keita could still leave Werder Bremen this month after being ‘deleted’ from the club’s website and told there is “no way back.”
After leaving Liverpool in 2023, Keita moved on a three-year deal to Werder Bremen where his time hasn’t exactly passed smoothly.
In April, he was suspended by the club as a result of refusing to travel for an away game to Bayer Leverkusen, and his absence from the team has continued into this season.
He noticeably now has no photo on the club’s website and could still be sold despite the European transfer window having already closed.
Werder Bremen’s head of professional football, Clemens Fritz, said on German TV programme Doppelpass: “We have to find a solution with his agency.
“There are still some markets like the United Arab Emirates that are open. A new transfer window starts again in October or we might find a solution during the winter break.
“For us it is clear, we will not terminate the contract now. There is no way back.”
The football director went on to say, “Naby is a pretty is a pretty good guy” but that he crossed a line when refusing to play against Leverkusen.
“When we signed him, we knew that it could be a certain opportunity but also a risk,” explained Fritz.
“We tried to get him to the best possible level but if someone refuses to get on the Werder bus for an away game, especially at a time when we had many injured and suspended players.
“He’s not a stubborn person, Naby is a pretty good guy. He had the expectation of himself that he had to play based on his training but we haven’t seen that from him.
“For me that’s an absolute no-go. That’s why we have to find a solution with his agency.”
Keita is a good footballer but his constant injuries at Liverpool stunted his development and his career appears to now be petering out at just 29 years old.
Fritz added: “Naby is not a bad guy, even if it was a knee-jerk reaction on his part. He didn’t cause unrest in the dressing room but it was simply a mistake and that’s why there’s no way back.”
Bild report that Keita is keeping fit despite having played just 107 minutes of club football since leaving the Reds.
The German paper said that “terminating the contract with Keita after an agreement with an expensive severance payment is no longer an option for Werder.”
This would explain why the club won’t terminate his contract and are instead looking to sell the Guinea international captain.
