Naldo joins Wolfsburg

The 6’6” centre-half, who has four caps for Brazil, was widely expected to leave Bremen earlier in the season after falling out of favour following a serious knee injury, but he had been reported to be going back to his homeland before winning back his place in the team.

And, in a move that appears to have irked Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf, the former Juventude stopper has opted to switch clubs but stay in Germany.

“It is a great loss for us. We cannot be happy about it," Schaaf admitted.

Director of sport Klaus Allofs explained why they let the player move to one of their Bundesliga rivals.

“We had promised him that we would allow him a transfer if the conditions were right,” Allofs said. “We would have liked to have extended his contract but we could not compete with the offer from Wolfsburg.”

Naldo, who scored 22 goals in 173 matches for the club and is a threat from set pieces both with his head and feet, said that his family wished to remain in Germnay and that he was relishing the new challenge.

"It really is hard to leave Bremen," he said. "I had a lot of success with Werder and the club and the fans have a place in my heart, but the offer from Wolfsburg was really very good.

"I now have the chance to remain in the Bundesliga and that was important to me and my family."