Ousman Manneh: From refugee to Bundesliga pro

Manneh has returned to Blumenthaler SV to the north of Bremen, the tiny club he joined after he arrived in Germany, to do a portrait for Werder Bremen’s website (werder.de).

Sitting on the substitutes’ bench next to the pitch, he has to pinch himself. “I always wanted to play in the Bundesliga,” the 19-year-old says, a shy smile lighting up his face.

A mere two years after his flight, the teenager from Gambia has made the leap into Germany’s top flight and is determined to make the most of his chance.

Goal machine

“My dream now is to become a proper goal machine like Robert Lewandowski or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” Manneh says.

Manneh could feature in Bremen’s starting 11 for the third match in a row in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash at Darmstadt (1530 CET).

“He has done a lot to convince,” says interim coach Alexander Nouri, who is looking to boost his chances of becoming a permanent replacement for Viktor Skripnik, who was sacked this month.

Nouri is hoping Manneh can help. Since he arrived in Germany in 2014, the striker’s progress has been remarkable. After fleeing the violence and corruption of his homeland and joining Blumenthaler, his talent was quickly obvious. A day after his 18th birthday in March 2015 he signed his first contract with Bremen and from then on Nouri, the Under-23 coach, was an almost constant presence at his side.

When Nouri was promoted to first-team coach to replace Skripnik, Manneh made the leap with him and was immediately catapulted into the starting lineup for the 2-1 defeat to Mainz and the 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg.

“The idea was that he would make life difficult for the opposing defenders and he did that very well,” Nouri said.

Like team captain Clemens Fritz, Manneh would certainly back Nouri being given the top job on a permanent basis. But Sporting Director Frank Bauman is taking his time. “Alex has a chance to be in charge not only in Darmstadt but also in the coming weeks, months and years,” Baumann says. He refuses, however, to be put under pressure and also wants to look at external candidates. A final decision should come within the next couple of weeks.

Rising star

Whatever happens could have an impact on the short-term outlook for Bremen’s rising star, who despite his rapid progress refuses to forget his stint at Blumenthal.

“It was a brilliant time,” Manneh says. “I experienced so many great things and met so many people.

Around 100 kilometers down the road in Hamburg is another refugee from Gambia who is hoping to make it in the Bundesliga. Bakery Jatta has been scoring plenty of goals for Hamburg’s Under-21 side but, unlike Manneh, is still waiting for a first call-up to the first team.

asz/sn (sid)