Schade – as planned – will step down having reached retirement age and, at the same time, become a member of the Shareholders Committee at Bayer 04. Also on 1 July, Rudi Völler (58) will take over the newly created position of executive director of sport. His successor as sporting director will be the current sporting manager Jonas Boldt (36).
"Under the leadership of Michael Schade, Bayer 04 have made very good progress over the past five years. The team has qualified for the Champions League four times and all organisational and financial targets have been completely fulfilled," said Werner Wenning, chair of the Bundesliga club supervisory committee. "Michael Schade moulded the organisation to meet future demands, continued to improve processes and structures, significantly drive internationalisation and digitalisation and continued to increase income from marketing activities. On behalf of the Shareholders Committee, I'd like to thank Michael Schade very much for all his work."
The new man in charge of the club management, Fernando Carro, is an internationally experienced top manager. "Mr Carro has continually demonstrated his extraordinary leadership and management qualities in a number of top positions at home and abroad. Together with the sporting expertise in our management group, which is further strengthened by these organisational changes, we are well placed to meet the challenges of the next few years," said Wenning.
Fernando Carro grew up in Barcelona and he went to the German School where he completed his A-levels in 1982. After training to be an industrial management assistant and attending the University of Karlsruhe to study Business and Engineering, he moved on to Bertelsmann AG in Gütersloh, where he was promoted to a number of management and board positions in the following years with increasing levels of responsibility. In 2015 he was appointed chairman of the board at the service company Arvato and and was called up to the group board at Bertelsmann Management SE.
The future CEO of Bayer 04 is married and has three children. In addition to his mother tongue Spanish, he also speaks fluent German and English. "I'm really looking forward to this exciting challenge where I can combine my passion for football with my professional experience as a manager. It's a dream come true for me," said Carro. "Bayer 04 are a great team with a lot of potential. Here at the club we will do all we can to be successful in the future and achieve our ambitious targets."
Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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One ticket, two matches – and a varied programme of events, including appearances by players from the professional teams: Bayer 04 has come up with something very special for the 2026 season launch on Saturday, 8 August. From morning right through to the evening, Werkself fans can use just one ticket to not only enjoy top-class football from the Bayer 04 teams live, but also to experience unforgettable moments with the whole family through a variety of hands-on activities around the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The day will also end on a real high note: after both matches, Bayer 04 supporters will have the opportunity to interact directly with the players during joint activities and get to know them from a different angle.
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Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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