Arfaoui made a significant contribution to Servette FCCF winning the Swiss Women's Super League last season with six goals and seven assists. The 21-year-old also made her debut in the Women's Champions League last term; since last year she has also been in the Switzerland squad alongside Bayer 04 player Lara Marti.
"My visit to Leverkusen, the meeting with the management and the professional set-up at Bayer 04 persuaded me straightaway. Signing here means a new and important step for me in my development," said Arfaoui. "The progress of the club in the Bundesliga is incredibly promising. I'm looking forward to this new challenge."
Head coach Achim Feifel sees the international as "a very promising offensive player" and is certain "she can liven up our game going forward with her creative potential."
In addition, Bayer 04 have extended the contract with Jessica Wich. The 30-year-old has played at Leverkusen since the 2014/15 season and is now set to start her eighth campaign in Black and Red.
The captain, currently in rehab at the Werkstatt at the BayArena due to a knee injury, is looking forward "to another year with Bayer 04" and hopes, "to be able to support the young team with my experience both on and off the pitch."
The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
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