According to Kicker, Salim Musa was once considered the future of Werder Bremen, but now he can only wait for opportunities behind Füllkrug. The young player is "unhappy," and his situation mirrors that of Woltemade.

6 minutes, 29 minutes, 7 minutes – 0 minutes. So far, Salim Musa's playing time for Werder Bremen this season is extremely limited. In Saturday's 1-1 draw at home against Cologne, the striker sat on the bench for the entire match for the first time. Head coach Ole Werner stated on one hand that he is "unhappy," and on the other that it is "completely normal."

In fact, all parties initially planned for the 20-year-old to receive more playing time in his second season than in his first. Toward the end of last season, Ole Werner repeatedly gave Musa chances and proved his assessment of this "future candidate" with his actions: Musa ultimately played 8 Bundesliga matches, starting twice.

However, Bremen's striker situation was different at the time. The striker problems carried over from last season have now been resolved during the summer transfer window: first with the signing of Swiss international Itten, followed by the long-awaited return of Füllkrug, and now it appears this return has fully paid off.

From now on, Musa's situation has become disadvantageous, even though he was actually one of the few Bremen players who performed well during preseason preparations.

In the first official DFB-Pokal match, although Musa played, Füllkrug was immediately made the starter to make up for lost playing time due to his late arrival; the same applies to Itten. This German U20 international striker had previously ranked only third.

Ole Werner said on Sunday that his previous decision regarding Bremen's strikers was "for success," emphasizing that "overall, we need to win matches." Füllkrug has scored 3 goals, including a penalty in the DFB-Pokal; Bremen's 4 points from their first three league matches also validates his assessment.

What about Musa's situation? The 52-year-old coach commented on his status since summer: "Salim had a good preseason, and of course, my competitors in the forward line have also returned." He also said Musa lacked energy during the period following his illness. Nevertheless, except for the Cologne match, he "received playing time in every match"; against RB Leipzig, Ole Werner even adjusted the system specifically for him.

The Bremen coach also emphasized that he "cannot accommodate all young talents right now," and when discussing Musa, said he "first needs patience, and second must take advantage of his chances," making the most of every opportunity he gets.

However, Ole Werner also explained that the young player is not necessarily guaranteed to be a starter: "It's not certain that a young player will be a starter, and perhaps that's normal. Especially now, when everyone is talking about how good Füllkrug is, someone always has to be the sacrificial lamb."

Whether Musa will be that victim is something his agent, Danny Bachmann, has already sensed following Füllkrug's explosive start to the season. He then told Bild: "The decision in the DFB-Pokal match and recent discussions with club officials are completely at odds."

It should be noted that Bachmann also represents former Bremen player Woltemade, and the end of that story is already known: the academy product joined Stuttgart on a free transfer two years ago because he did not get the development opportunities at Bremen that outsiders believed he should have had.

It is reported that Musa's current situation does indeed resemble Woltemade's. For Bremen, this is a situation the club wants to avoid so history does not repeat itself.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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