Peruvian striker Pizarro returns to Werder Bremen to wrap up career
Berlin: Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro, age 39, on Sunday joined Werder Bremen for the fifth time, wrapping up his career at the same Bundesliga football club he started with in Europe.
Pizarro will start the 2018/2019 season with Werder on a performance-based contract, after injuries marred his 2017/2018 season with FC Kolen, which was relegated from the German top division, reports Efe.
“We have been in contact with Claudio over the past few weeks and both he and ourselves expressed the desire for him to call time on his playing career here in Bremen, here at the Weser-Stadion,” Werder’s chief executive Frank Baumann said.
In a statement on the club’s website, Pizarro said, “I am delighted to have the chance to be part of this team again in order to hang up my boots at the club where it all began in Europe.”
Pizarro is Werder’s all-time top scorer, having netted 144 times.
The Peruvian first joined Werder in 1999, when he managed to score 19 goals in 31 appearances in the first season, something that put him on Bayern Munich’s radar.
During his first spell at Bayern, Pizarro helped the Bavarian club win the Bundesliga title in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
In 2007, Pizarro joined Chelsea, only to return to Werder first on loan and then on a long-term basis, before being transferred to Bayern for the second time.
With the Bavarians, he won the triple of the Bundesliga, German Cup and UEFA Champions League titles in 2013, although he was not a regular starter.
During the following two seasons, he won Germany’s top-flight league before joining Werder for the fourth time.
After a season at Kolen, Pizarro, who became the only foreigner player to make 400 Bundesliga appearances, returns to Werder Bremen.