Fact 1: African roots
Bellarabi was born in West Berlin on 8 April 1990. His mother is German, his father Moroccan and his stepfather comes from Ghana. Bellarabi has both German and Moroccan citizenship and he grew up in Bremen. As a teenager, he played for FC Huchting, Werder Bremen and FC Oberneuland.
Fact 2: First steps in professional football
Via the U19s at Eintracht Braunschweig, Bellarabi moved up to the first team squad at the Lower Saxony club. He made his professional debut in the third division on matchday 38 on 23 May 2009. Eintracht lost 2-0 at Regensburg.
Fact 3: The move to Leverkusen
Bellarabi signed for Leverkusen in the 2011/12 season. He made his first appearance in Black and Red against FC Köln on 17 September 2011. The then Bayer 04 coach Robin Dutt brought him on in place of Daniel Schwaab on 80 minutes. The Werkself lost the game 4-1.
Fact 4: Bellarabi's first goal
It finally came on 3 March 2012: Just eight minutes after coming on for André Schürrle, Bellarabi scored the second and winning goal against Bayern Munich on the 90th minute – his first goal in the Bundesliga. A few days later, on 7 March 2012, Bellarabi scored his first goal in the Champions League in added time in the second leg of the Round of 16 – the Werkself did lose the match 7-1 away to Barcelona.
Fact 5: Back to Lower Saxony
Bellarabi returned to Braunschweig on loan for the start of the 2013/14 season to get more match practice. The idea paid dividends: He scored three goals and provided five assists in 26 Bundesliga games. Braunschweig were relegated at the end of the season; Bellarabi returned to Leverkusen. He earned a regular berth in the following season to finally be established with the Black and Reds.
Fact 6: Record breaker
On 23 August 2014 in the first match day of the new season, Bellarabi scored the fastest ever goal in the Bundesliga: He opened the scoring at Borussia Dortmund after nine seconds and the Werkself ended up 2-0 winners. The record was equalled almost exactly a year later by one of his current Bayer 04 teammates: Kevin Volland, then playing for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, opened the scoring against FC Bayern on 22 August 2015 – again after nine seconds. Bellarabi has also secured another top spot: "The opening goal against FC Augsburg on 17 February 2017 was the 50,000th goal in the history of the Bundesliga. His shirt from that match is a permanent exhibit in the German Football Museum in Dortmund.
Fact 7: Swift as an arrow
One of Bellarabi's great strengths is his incredible pace. In 2016/17, he was faster than any other player in Germany's top flight with a measured top speed of 35.27 km/h and he also possesses extraordinary stamina. The Werkself completed a stamina test in Orlando during preparations for the second half of the 2016/17 season. In one drill, players had to drop out because they had not completed the distance required in the set time. The last man standing, or in this case the last man running, was – Karim Bellarabi.
Fact 8: New hobby on the decks
Bellarabi has apparently discovered a new hobby during the coronavirus pandemic. In a recent post on his Instagram account, he published a video of himself as a DJ – and he showed what he could do on the turntables. A true all-rounder.
Midfielder Ruby Grant is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joining Portuguese runners-up Sporting CP a year before her contract expires. The 24-year-old has been at the Werkself since January 2025.
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He knows the dressing room, the pitch and the club. But, above all, he knows the feeling of playing for the Werkself at the BayArena: Moussa Diaby is back in Leverkusen after three years. The lightning-fast winger has signed a contract with Bayer 04 until 2031 and he will once again wear the number 19 jersey. The left-footed player previously played for the club from 2019 to 2023, having arrived in the Rhineland from his native France as a promising young talent and eventually leaving the club – having established himself as one of the Bundesliga’s best attackers – to join Aston Villa in the Premier League. Now he has returned to Bayer 04 from Al-Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia.
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