Schaaf in contract talks

Werder Bremen boss Thomas Schaaf has entered negotiations with the club to extend his contract beyond June 2010.

The 48-year-old has been a part of the Werder Bremen set-up for over 30 years, spending all of his playing days at the Weserstadion before being appointed manager of the side in 1999.

But his current deal expires at the end of this season and general manager Klaus Allofs has moved quickly to try and extend Schaaf's stay at the North German outfit.

"We are in talks and we are going to find out what is the result of this," Allofs told Kreiszeitung Skye.

"Signing a new deal with the manager was and is our top priority. We are negotiating, but there is no signature or agreement as yet.

Co-operation
"We are having matches almost every three days so there is an obvious reason for us not to talk about these things all the time.

"Due to our long-time co-operation we are having very reliable consultations.

"I am very confident things will turn out fine and Thomas Schaaf will stay manager beyond the end of the season."

Allofs also could not name a return date for star striker Claudio Pizarro, who is recovering from an ankle injury.

"It takes longer than we had thought at first, we cannot do anything about it," he added.

"We are doing our very best to get Claudio back to action as soon as possible, but we are not ready to accept any risks with regard to his long-term fitness.

"He will be back in action when he is fully fit."

The former Bayern Munich and Chelsea player made a permanent return to the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen after impressing on loan last year.