Werder Bremen confirm Marvin Ducksch will miss several weeks with calf injury | OneFootball

Werder Bremen striker Marvin Ducksch will be sidelined for several weeks. The twice capped German international – whom the Bundesliga club had actually been hoping to sell this summer – incurred an injury during a Monday training session. A subsequent MRI revealed that the muscular injury in his calf necessitated a longer break.

Without Ducksch, Bremen find themselves without a veteran striker to lead the line. After Scottish forward Oliver Burke signed with Union Berlin ahead of next season and loan bust André Silva was returned to Leipzig, the Hanseaten have only 21-year-old Keke Topp and likely-to-be released Dawid Kownacki as natural nines.

Young German attacking prospect Justin Njinmah and Austrian winger Marco Grüll can work as center forwards, though it is not their natural position. Bremen are among those linked with AC Milan’s Noah Okafor, but the Swiss international’s injury history most likely leaves the Werder front office squeamish.

In Okafor’s case, Bremen certainly don’t wish to acquire another Naby Keïta. Probably the Bremen transfer rumor that now becomes more relevant in light of the Ducksch injury concerns the case of Werder’s links to Bayern Munich prospect Paul Wanner.

While Bremen have been considered tangential candidates in the race for Wanner, there remains some chance that the German-Austrian attacker may wish to serve under his former SV Elversberg mentor Horst Steffen. Wanner, unfortunately, is also not a natural nine.

“This is bitter for us and for Marvin as he will miss important weeks of training camp,” Steffen noted in a Tuesday statement commenting on Ducksch’s injury. “However, we will support him as best we can so that he can rejoin the team as soon as possible.”

GGFN | Peter Weis