Werder Bremen have suspended Naby Keita for the remainder of the Bundesliga season, as officially confirmed by the club. The player refused to travel to Leverkusen this past weekend after learning that he wouldn’t start, and this has not gone down well with the club management.
The former Liverpool midfielder has been hit with a huge fine and isn’t allowed to train or go into the senior squad dressing room either, as part of his ban.
Naby Keita suspended by Werder Bremen after Leverkusen incident
🚨 Werder director Fritz: “Naby Keita found out that he would not be playing vs Leverkusen from the start, he decided not to get on the bus and to go home”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 14, 2024
“We'll talk to Keita and his agent about the consequences and how to proceed”. pic.twitter.com/YPj6KDmKJv
“Naby’s behaviour cannot be tolerated by us as a club,” the club’s head of their professional department, Clemens Fritz, stated. “He let his team down during a difficult situation and put himself above the team.
“We can’t allow that. At this stage of the season, we need to put full focus on the remaining games and be a tight-knit unit. Therefore, we had no alternative but to take this measure.”
The team was running low on numbers, and faced a difficult tie away against the league leaders. In this situation, the 29-year-old’s unprofessionalism could hamper his future options as well, should the club decide to let him go in the summer.
Werder Bremen eventually ended up losing 5-0, as Bayer Leverkusen were crowned champions in front of a roaring home crowd.
