Pizarro leaving Werder

The most successful foreign goal scorer in the Bundesliga is leaving SV Werder in the summer.
First Team
Tuesday, 15.05.2012 / 16:48

Claudio Pizarro will be leaving SV Werder. The Peruvian international striker made the announcement in talks with Werder's sports bosses Tuesday afternoon. "We convinced him three times in...

Claudio Pizarro will be leaving SV Werder. The Peruvian international striker made the announcement in talks with Werder's sports bosses Tuesday afternoon. "We convinced him three times in favour of Werder, but it was not possible a fourth time. We regret it very much, but are happy that a decision has finally been made and we thank Claudio for a great time together," said Werder's board chairman Klaus Allofs after the meeting.

"Our change will be even bigger," said Allofs about the roster plans without Werder's top attacker from last season. "We certainly cannot replace a world class striker like Claudio Pizarro with one player. But we see it positively. We have new possibilities with his departure."

Head coach Thomas Schaaf was also optimistic about the new changes. "We have to accept this decision. I would have liked to have continued working with him. But it was important that Claudio decided. Now we can move forward with the planning for the coming season. We will now look for attractive solutions," said Schaaf.

The Peruvian, who will travel one last time with the team on Wednesday for a test match in Cuxhaven, said: "That was a very difficult decision for me. I have a big love for this team and this club. But I would like to do something else at the end of my career. I cannot yet say what it will be. I have a few offers which I am looking at."

Pizarro played six years in total in two stints with Werder Bremen. The Peruvian played from 1999 to 2001 with the Green-Whites and returned in 2008 after stops with Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Of his 333 Bundesliga matches, he played 159 of them for Werder. He is the Bundesliga's all-time foreign-born scorer with 160 goals, 89 of them with the diamond on his chest. That leaves him in front of Ailton and behind Rudi Völler in fourth place in Werder's all-time scoring list. Pizarro reached the German DFB Cup final in 2009 and 2010 as well as the 2009 UEFA Cup, winning the 2009 DFB Cup.

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