Winger has pressed the reset button after leaving Birmingham City
Former Birmingham City loanee Oliver Burke has rediscovered some of his best form after returning to Werder Bremen at the end of his Blues loan spell. Scottish international Burke - who hasn't been called up since 2020 - was borrowed by Blues last season after being permitted to leave the Bundesliga club at the end of the transfer window.
Burke, 27, is a Nottingham Forest academy product who earned big money moves to RB Leipzig and West Bromwich Albion, but after that his career has fluctuated; he has since had loan spells with Millwall, Deportivo Alaves and Celtic, as well as permanent moves to Sheffield United and then, more recently, Werder.
Last year, Burke played 23 times for Blues under four different managers, but he played just 45 minutes after January - those minutes coming under Gary Rowett in the damaging goalless draw at Rotherham United at the end of the season. Not able to make an impact or contribute in the final third as Blues were relegated from the Championship, Burke returned to Germany in the summer.
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With an uncertain future, and into the final year of his contract, Burke has been granted a fresh opportunity to impress and lay down a claim for a regular spot in Werder's side - and it would appear as though he has taken it, having been recalled into the side in October and having since made nine appearances, scoring once - netting a last-minute winner over Holstein Kiel last month.
Burke has now revealed the shift in mindset and the pressing of the reset button over the summer which has helped him to concentrate on his football again after a difficult few years, and he outlined his desire to remain at Werder beyond the end of his existing contract.
“My situation wasn’t the easiest. Focus is something I’ve definitely improved on,” he told Kicker. “Sometimes I look back and think: maybe I should have been more patient. Maybe I expected too much or wanted more, but I don’t want to talk about it too much anymore. That’s my journey and that’s how it went.
“I’m looking at the here and now: I’m in a good place and I’m enjoying football here. I'm still quite young, 27 - things change quickly in football. In the summer I had the feeling that I could prove it to everyone again. That Werder was the right club for me and that it can work here.
"Of course I want to stay, I love the club, the fans - and would like to continue to be part of this team. My main focus is currently not on my contract situation, but on the next game, the next training session today."
