“Max Kruse talks Bundesliga return and why money doesn’t matter: Is Werder Bremen interested again?”

Max Kruse is still without a club. Now the soccer professional is talking about a return to the Bundesliga and why money doesn’t matter. Is a return to Werder Bremen realistic?

Bremen – poker, car races, your own YouTube show and, and, and – you might think, even without Bundesliga football, you will Max Kruse not boring so quickly. The former star professional of the SV Werder Bremen are known to employ many hobbies and part-time jobs. And yet the 35-year-old only wants one thing at the moment: back to football. Kruse is now using an interview with “Zeit” as an “application interview” for the Bundesliga. And maybe Werder could bring that up again.

“I still have the fire in me that burns for football,” says Max Kruseeight months after his last Bundesligagame and six months after his far from silent contract termination VfL Wolfsburg hopes for a continuation of his career – preferably in Germany: “The first division would be a highlight, I want to go back there.” For Kruse it’s also about redemption and a good last chapter of his career.

Werder Bremen ex Max Kruse would stop all other projects for football

“It’s basically about the fact that I want to decide for myself when the time comes,” says the ex-national player. “Of course there is a sense of honor in me. I don’t want to let it sit on me.” Coach Niko Kovac helped him VfL Wolfsburg accused of lack of commitment and lack of sporting impulses and removed from the squad in September 2022. “It was the first time in 15 years of my professional career that that had been said about me. I always gave my maximum everywhere.” Under Kovac, things didn’t go smoothly for the whole team in the early days Max Kruse: “And it was probably easiest to present myself as the scapegoat.”

well has Max Kruse, who enjoys a bon vivant image, which is not considered easy and is practically permanently present on social media, apparently has problems finding a new club. In the interview, the ex-professional of the SV Werder Bremen, who played for the green-whites from 2006 to 2009 and from 2016 to 2019, to take away the concerns of those responsible about a commitment. Although his other interests will not “disappear overnight”, Kruse emphasizes that he still lives for football: “I enjoy things like YouTube, but they are not vital for me either. I could also say we stop that.”

Money doesn’t matter: does SV Werder Bremen’s interest in Max Kruse germinate again?

It would also be financial Max Kruse ready to cut back. “Many may think that he recently earned five million, we can’t pay that. I would say that you would always find a way,” the 35-year-old clarifies. “I’ve already earned a penny or two in my career, so now it’s no longer my primary goal to earn two or three million. It used to be my dream to become a soccer player, I would have played for free back then. And now money is secondary again.”

Maybe there will be that too SV Werder Bremen again keenly. Last summer, the newcomer had at least “discussed the personnel internally”, as Clemens Fritz once revealed as head of professional football. However, the interest was not concrete. Of course, money also played a role. Could there be a third Kruse engagement on the Weser in the future? Max Kruse hasn’t talked about specific clubs yet, but has “no preferences” when looking for a club.

Max Kruse it is clear that the prejudices about his fitness “have not diminished” after six months without a club. So in order to be considered for a Bundesliga club again, he says he works with a fitness trainer every day. “I want to get to the level of fitness that every professional soccer player is at in preparation for the season,” emphasizes the striker. But he doesn’t want to train alone forever. “I’ll pull it through until the summer. If nothing happens then, I might have to deal with the fact that my active career could be over. But I’m not assuming that at all.” (han)