Leipzig hires Ole Werner as coach after he refused to sign extension at Bremen

LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Leipzig hired Ole Werner as coach on Tuesday, ending a long tangle with his former club Werder Bremen over his availability.

The 37-year-old Werner signed a two-year contract to the end of the 2026-27 season, Leipzig said on its website.

Werner was fired by Bremen in May once the season ended because he refused to extend his contract with the Bundesliga club. It had another year to run. Werner said he had reached a “certain point” at the club after leading it to promotion in 2022 and overseeing steady improvement despite limited resources.

Despite being dismissed as coach, Werner remained contracted to Bremen. Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schäfer and Bremen counterpart Clemens Fritz needed long negotiations before finally agreeing on a reported transfer fee of 2 million euros ($2.3 million) to release Werner.

Assistants Patrick Kohlmann and Tom Cichon are joining him.

“We’re convinced that he’s ready for the next step and are very much looking forward to working with him to push ahead with our squad planning,” Schäfer said.

Werner, who led Bremen to eighth place in the Bundesliga last season, will be expected to lead Leipzig back to the Champions League after it missed out on European qualification altogether for the first time since its promotion in 2016.

Leipzig only finished seventh last season despite far greater resources than Bremen.

“Both sides share the same ideas about how we want to play and work,” Werner said. “That made the decision to take this next step together an easy one for me.”

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