Werder Bremen have signed Chelsea defender Papy Djilobodji on loan, the Bundesliga club have confirmed.
Djilobodji joined Chelsea from Nantes on the final day of the summer transfer window in a deal reported to be worth around £2.7 million, but made just one appearance in five months at Stamford Bridge, as a 90th-minute substitute in the Blues' 4-1 away victory over Walsall in the Capital One Cup.
He now moves to Bremen as a replacement for Assani Lukimya, who joined Chinese club Liaoning Hongyun in a deal reported to be worth £2m earlier this week.
#Werder have signed Papy #Djilobodji on loan until the end of the season! Welcome to Bremen, Papy! pic.twitter.com/34BjQIki37
- SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) January 21, 2016
"We're very happy to have found a replacement for Assani Lukimya so soon after his departure," Bremen sporting director Thomas Eichin told the club's official website.
Djilobodji's summer transfer was widely interpreted as a backup move by Chelsea, who failed to sign Everton defender John Stones despite publicly pursuing the 21-year-old for much of the summer.
On Djilobodji's arrival, former boss Jose Mourinho admitted that he had not watched the player.
"It was not my choice," Mourinho said in September. "It was the choice of someone I trust completely, which is the same. I don't know every player.
"My job doesn't allow me to travel and spend hours watching players. In some moments of the market, under certain circumstances, there are moments when you have to trust or not the people you work with.
"In my case, I trust because the same person who told me Djilobodji can be a good squad player was the same person who told me [Kurt] Zouma can be a fantastic player for us. Obviously I trust him."
Mourinho departed Stamford Bridge last month but interim successor Guus Hiddink has decided that Djilobodji is surplus to requirements and the 27-year-old will now join Bremen, who lie 16th in the Bundesliga table, just two points clear of rock-bottom Hoffenheim.
