Werder Bremen officially announced on Thursday that it had completed the contract extension with captain Marco Friedel ahead of schedule. German Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg said the new contract has been extended from 2026 to June 30, 2028.

The 27-year-old Marco Friedel came from the Bayern Munich youth training and joined Werder Bremen in January 2018 on a lease-to-buy basis. He mainly plays as a central defender in Bremen and has made 193 appearances so far, scoring 7 goals and providing 10 assists.

Friedel missed eight Bundesliga games this season due to injury and suspension, during which Bremen averaged only 0.88 points per game and conceded three goals. In the 20 games in which Friedel started, Bremen's average points per game increased to 1.75 and the number of goals conceded dropped to 1.3. Currently, Bremen ranks ninth in the Bundesliga with 12 wins, 6 draws and 11 losses and 42 points.

After completing the contract extension, Peter Niemeyer, head of Bremen's professional football department, said: "We are very happy that Marco is willing to stay in Werder Bremen and move forward with us. This is a strong signal that he identifies with our club."

"As captain, Marco is an important pillar of the team. He will continue to be a member of our team and we hope to continue to build an interesting and promising team around him."

Bremen coach Ole Werner then added: "Marko has continued to improve in recent years and has now become an absolute core player. His competitive value to the team is quite huge. As captain, he plays a key role both on and off the court and is a very important communication partner for me."

Friedel himself also expressed his expectations for the future: "After seven years at Bremen, I am one of the team's most experienced players and have experienced all the team's highs and lows. This naturally makes us more united, and I have invested a lot of emotion in this. We have been making continuous progress as a team in recent years, but there is still more room for improvement. I firmly believe in the development path set by the club management for the team and am full of expectations for the future."