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Werder Bremen have named Horst Steffen as their new head coach following the dismissal of Ole Werner.

Werder parted ways with Werner following three years in charge, after the 37-year-old opted against signing a contract extension with the northern club, and moved swiftly to appoint a successor.

“When Werder first made contact, it was a wonderful recognition of my work,” said Steffen, 56, who narrowly missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga with Elversberg in the play-off on 26 May.

“During our talks, the management showed me a great deal of appreciation and explained what the club have planned for the next few years. That soon convinced me and I decided in favour of Werder very quickly […] I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

A Former Player with Bayer Uerdingen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Duisburg, Steffen Coached the Duisburg Reserve, Stuttgarter Kickers, Prussia Münster and Chemnitz, Before Taking the Reins at Elversberg in October 2018.

He led the Saarland-based outfit into Germany’s third tier for the first time in 2022, before achieving a second successive promotion as champions a year later.

After finishing a respectable 11th in 2023/24, Steffen’s Elversberg ended the regular 2024/25 Bundesliga 2 season just a point outside the automatic promotion places to secure a second bite of the cherry via the play-off, which they ultimately lost 4-3 on aggregate to Frank Schmidt’s Heidenheim.

“Horst won us over in our discussions, both in terms of content and as a person,” said Clemens Fritz, Bremen’s managing director for football. “He’s done an outstanding job at Elversberg over the past seven years. Horst wants his teams to play attacking, attractive football and has very good and clear team management. We are confident that we are well prepared for the new season with him.”

Steffen’s Elversberg boasted Bundesliga 2’s meanest defence and the joint second best attack in 2024/25. – XX / XX

Steffen, details of whose contract have not been disclosed, will have a full pre-season with Werder, who play their first competitive fixture of 2025/26 in the DFB Cup first round on 15-18 August.

The Green-Whites – who have posted 13th-, ninth- and eighth-placed finishes since returning to the top flight under Werner in 2022 – begin their Bundesliga campaign a week later.