Bayer 04 have responded to the departure of striker Ivana Rudelic: "We wanted to do something in this position after Rudelic moved on to FC Bayern. We've succeeded by bringing in Mina Tanaka on loan," said Thomas Eichin, director of the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. And Linda Schöttler, general manager of Women's football at Bayer 04, is also happy with the transfer: "Being able to sign a six-time striker of the year from Japan is definitely something special. She is the first Japanese at our club. I'm happy that Mina Tanaka will gain her first experience abroad here with us."
The 26-year-old striker has already gained honours in Japan. In the Nadeshiko League, the top women's league in Japan, she was the top scorer in the years 2016 to 2019, was the striker of the year six times in succession, won the national Empress's Cup four times and also received the award as the best player in the league in 2018 and 2019. Tanaka has also established herself in the Japan team (39 caps, 16 goals) and she was in the side that won the Women’s AFC Asian Cup in 2018.
"I'm very happy and it fills me with pride to be able to play in Germany and for Bayer 04. I'm really glad to be able to take on this challenge. I've been able to follow the great development of the team in recent months and I can very much identify with the club. I will do all I can to help the team and the club achieve their targets," said the new signing looking forward to the coming months.
Bayer 04 have secured the services of Serbia U19 international Aleksa Damjanovic for next season. The 17-year-old centre-forward will move from Red Star Belgrade to Leverkusen in the summer on a long-term contract. The 1.98 metre tall striker is regarded as one of the most promising attacking talents in Europe and has recently impressed with strong performances at both first team and youth level. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes and director of football Kim Falkenberg particularly praise his finishing, heading ability and physical presence in the penalty area.
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The Bayer 04 eSports team made a great start to the fifth and final showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26! The Leverkusen players picked up nine points in the first three of six matches in the online preliminary round. Victories against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Braunschweig and SpVgg Greuther Fürth not only put the Black and Reds in a good position to progress to the offline round. Valuable points were also collected for the overall table and direct entry into the final event of the German Club Championship.
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The fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 begins for the #B04eSports team this Thursday, 12 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), with the online preliminary round kicking off against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Braunschweig and SpVgg Greuther Fürth. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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A Friday night derby, carnival time and floodlights: In the close race for third place in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, the Werkself welcome FC Köln. In addition to the neighbourly rivalry, the match, kicking off at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium at 18:30 CET, is also a highly charged sporting encounter.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed a contract extension with women’s assistant coach Friederike Mehring until 30 June 2027. The 32-year-old’s previous deal was set to expire at the end of the season.
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