Werder Bremen confirmed Horst Steffen as its new head coach on Thursday, following the departure of Ole Werner earlier this week.

The 56-year-old arrives from second division side SV Elversberg and will lead the Green-Whites into the 2025-26 Bundesliga campaign.

Steffen is taking over after the club experienced a period of steady progress under Werner, who guided the team from promotion in 2022 to an eighth-place finish in the 2024-25 season. Werner informed the club of his decision not to renew his contract beyond 2026 on Monday, and the following day, Werder announced his immediate departure and swiftly secured a successor.

"This opportunity is a great compliment to my work," said Steffen. "The talks with Werder were respectful and had a clear vision for the future. That convinced me very quickly. I'm excited to take on this challenge."

Steffen has built a reputation for attractive, attacking football, and for developing young talent. During his seven years at Elversberg, he took the club from the fourth tier to the verge of Bundesliga promotion.

After securing successive promotions, his team narrowly missed out on a top-two finish in the 2024-25 season before falling short in the promotion play-offs against Heidenheim.

"Horst impressed us in every aspect," said Clemens Fritz, Bremen's managing director of football. "He brings strong leadership, tactical clarity and a proven ability to work with young players. We believe he's the right person to continue our progress."

Steffen's coaching career includes spells at Stuttgarter Kickers, Preussen Munster and Chemnitzer. He now faces the task of continuing Werder's recent upward trajectory, with a full pre-season to implement his ideas. Bremen will begin its new season with a German Cup tie in mid-August, followed by the Bundesliga opener a week later.