Werder Bremen may be the perfect place for Naby Keita to rebuild his career

Die Werderaner are putting together a squad of late bloomers and flops that have turned their careers around. Naby Keita could be their next success story.

In the 1819 Brothers Grimm tale “Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten” (“The Town Musicians of Bremen”) a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster set off on an adventure to become musicians in the city of Bremen, after being deemed too old and useless to continue working on their respective farms. 

The animals never make it to the city on the banks of the River Wesser, instead opting to capture a house from a band of robbers. But that never stopped the city from erecting a famous bronze statue of the four animals on one another’s backs, which has since become a famous tourist attraction. According to local superstition, rubbing both of the donkey’s front legs brings you good luck. 

The tale about the old and misunderstood characters going on to find comfort and happiness late on in life is a well-known one in certain parts of the world and now perhaps draws a suspiciously convenient parallel to the very club that plays its games in a stadium just a stone’s throw from the Wesser. For at Werder Bremen the club have since welcomed a senior player that not so long ago set off on his own journey to prove his worth, after being deemed surplus to requirement at his previous home.