Niemeyer on potential return for Burke: "We all know what potential he has."
| Oliver Burke. | Photo: Werder Bremen |
With young striker Justin Njinmah missing due to injury and new summer additions Marco Grüll and Keke Topp not looking as if they're fit enough to contribute at Bundesliga level just yet, SV Werder Bremen trainer Ole Werner dug deep in order to find attacking options against SC Freiburg on Saturday. Scottish striker Oliver Burke earned some minutes off the bench for the first time since opening day against Bayern München last year
The 27-year-old got off to a solid start for his second German footballing club after signing with Bremen in the summer of 2022, netting two Bundesliga goals in his first three matches in a Bremen tricot. Burke memorably notched the game-winner off the bench in Werder's surprise upset of Borussia Dortmund on the 2022/23 campaign's third match-day. This would nevertheless prove to be his final goal for the Hanseaten.
Minutes dwindled. Loan outs to Millwall and later Birmingham City followed. Having not really caught on at either of his loan locales on the Isle, Burke is back in the Hanseatic city state. The 13-times-capped international finally got his chance to log some Bundesliga minutes on Saturday.
Werner selected him for his match-day squad to the fact that current attacking options - exemplified by the fact that Mitchell Weiser has been forced to move up front - leave Werner with a dire need. Introduced in the 86th, Burke recorded one shot on target.
"It was about having as many players in and around the box that could pose a goal-scoring threat as possible," Werner later explained in his post-match interview with Sky Germany, "Unfortunately, we weren't alert enough to take advantage of [Burke's] goal scoring chance."
"We all know the potential that he [Burke] has," SV licensing head Peter Niemeyer added in his own post-match interview, "He has to prove it again and again in training. Then he'll get chances to play."
"Oil wants to fight for his chance and feels that he's not finished here," Niemeyer went on to say, "Now he has to back up his words with action. He can play several different positions in our offensive system."