Director reveals impact of Birmingham City transfer – Took a step back intentionally

Marvin Ducksch spent four years at Werder Bremen and left them for Birmingham City in August 2025.

Clemens Fritz, the Bundesliga side’s managing director, has given a detailed interview to SportBild. He talked about Ducksch and defended his club’s decision to sell the striker to Birmingham City.

At Werder Bremen, the German mainly operated as a centre forward and scored 54 goals and contributed 40 assists from 134 matches.

SportBild present themselves as perplexed with Werder Bremen’s decision to sell after his impressive performances.

Why Ducksch moved to Birmingham City

Last summer, Sport Witness covered claims from Germany that the frontman felt lack of appreciation from the German club. He was of the belief even their fans didn’t appreciate him. These were the reasons that convinced him to leave Werder Bremen.

Back in October, the player revealed Birmingham City co-owner Tom Brady had dispelled doubts over making a switch to St Andrew’s.

Ducksch directly had a role in Werder Bremen’s 20 goals last season, scoring nine of them and assisting the remaining 11.

The German club have scored 22 goals from 21 league matches so far this season. It seems their decision to allow Ducksch join Chris Davies’ side hasn’t worked out well.

Clemens Fritz backs German’s sale to Blues

The director admits his exit did impact Werder Bremen sporting wise, but insists it was necessary to sell him because of his contract situation. The player had less than a year left on his contract when Werder Bremen sold him to the Championship side.

“Marvin Ducksch has contributed to Werder’s success in recent years with his goals and assists,” he said.

“However, he only had one year left on his contract and would have been available on a free transfer next summer. In addition, we had decided to rejuvenate the team after last season and bring a new dynamic to the squad. Even if this meant taking a step back in sporting terms in the short term.”

The German has managed eight goals and two assists from 25 matches for Birmingham City this season.