Continuity in the head coach role with the oldest youth team: Sven Hübscher, working under the Bayer Cross for the past 18 months, will again be responsible for the Leverkusen U19 team next season, his assistant coach is Markus Daun. The Hübscher team missed out by just one goal in the semi-finals of the U19 German championships last weekend. Bayer 04 finished third in the U19 Bundesliga West.
The U17 team will have a new head coach for the 2022/23 season: The Spaniard Sergi Runge, who speaks fluent German and is currently the assistant coach of the team, now takes charge of the Bayer 04 U17 squad. "Sergi has made a very good impression on recent months. He has quickly settled in to his new role and he has everything required to be the coach in charge," said Thomas Eichin, head of the Youth and Women's teams at Bayer 04.
Runge came to Leverkusen at the beginning of March from the world famous Barcelona academy. The 28-year-old was assistant coach of the U16 side at the top Spanish club. Before that, Runge was assistant coach of the first team and head coach of the U17s at the top Costa Rican club Liga Deportiva Alajuelnse.
In addition to assistant coach Thomas Zdebel, Runge will have a new fitness coach from the summer: Philipp Walther joined Leverkusen from the Fortuna Düsseldorf U17s. The Fortuna U17s qualified for the semi-finals of the German Championships last season with the 28-year-old in charge of fitness.
Coaching line-up for 2022/23:
U19: Sven Hübscher, Markus Daun
U17: Sergi Runge, Thomas Zdebel
Academy team/U16: Benjamin Adam, TBA
U15: Mirko Casper, Marvin Schmitz
U14: Pierre de Wit, Fritz Vosen
U13: Erdal Celik, Marco Walter
U12: Yannick Lamberz, Dominik Kepper
U11: Alexander Nuss, Achim Gödde
U10: Sebastian Lang, René Färber
U9: Tim Molowitz, TBA
U8: Jürgen Haagmans, Mark Fuldauer, Dennis Sartory
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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Bayer 04 have loaned Brazilian full-back Arthur to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for one year. Arthur Augusto de Matos Soares – the full name of the right-back – has a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2031. At Werder, the 23-year-old is expected to make an impact and help the long-established club further consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.
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Bayer 04 have loaned defender Jeanuel Belocian to Spanish top-flight side Racing Santander. The 21-year-old defender joins the team currently ninth in La Liga until the end of the current 2026/27 season. Belocian’s contract remains valid until 30 June 2029. Last season, the 1.86-metre-tall U21 international was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg for six months.
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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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