Werder Bremen has suspended former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita until the end of the Bundesliga season.After discovering he had been omitted from the starting line-up, the 29-year-old refused to travel for the clash with Bayer Leverkusen.Keita refuted the accusation in a response on Instagram, claiming Bremen’s sporting director Clemens Fritz was attempting to ‘tarnish’ his reputation.SV Werder Bremen have suspended Naby Keïta until the end of the season.The club have also handed the midfielder a substantial fine. The 28-year-old will no longer train with the team or be part of the first-team dressing room.#werder pic.twitter.com/CW1gTNKfMa— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) April 16, 2024 Bremen announced on Tuesday that Keita had been suspended for the rest of the season and handed a ‘substantial fine’.A club statement read: “After finding out that he would not be in the starting XI against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Naby Keita chose not to travel to the ground with the team and decided to go home instead.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8038566##It added: “SV Werder Bremen have suspended Naby Keita until the end of the season.”The club have also handed the midfielder a substantial fine. The 29-year-old will no longer train with the team or be part of the first-team dressing room.”Fritz said: “As a club, we won’t tolerate Naby’s behaviour. He let his team down in a time of difficulty surrounding our recent run of form and squad availability and put his own interests above those of the team. We can’t allow that.”Naby Keita will not play for Werder Bremen again this season after being issued with a club suspension and a “significant” fine 🇩🇪The player failed to travel with the squad to Leverkusen when he found out he would not be starting ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/k1G1nVKyQm— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 16, 2024 A combination of injuries and Africa Cup of Nations duty with Guinea has limited Keita to just five appearances in all competitions this term.Keita joined the Bundesliga club last summer after a five-year stay on Merseyside.
