With five first-team players from African countries, Leverkusen is currently a significant location. After a chat with managing director for sport Simon Rolfes, the visitors got to enjoy a tour of the BayArena. Fresh from returning from Gothenburg after the Werkself successfully qualified for the UEFA Europa League last 16, Rolfes took plenty of time on Friday afternoon for the guests and discussed a number of topics.
Simon Rolfes on…
…scouting in Africa: “We at Bayer 04 have had a very strong connection to Africa since the 90s, just like to South America. We have a number of players in our youth teams who were born in Germany but with African roots. The development of the African market is also exciting and becoming more and more important for us. The players are no longer just physically strong but also technically and tactically versatile. At the moment, we are primarily scouting for such profiles at other European clubs, but in the long term we want to tap into the market even more and, ideally, sign directly from there.”
...Positioning in competition with other clubs: “Young players in particular - such as Jeremie Frimpong or Amine Adli - like to come to us. It usually helps them to orientate themselves against the development of others, to get an idea of where their own path could take them. Bayer 04 is an ideal place for this. We don't have too large a squad here and are very selective in our recruitment. But that also means that everyone is important, has a great chance to play, we take care of everyone and work intensively with everyone. Off the pitch, we have a very informal atmosphere - within the team, with family members and also with employees.”
...Edmond Tapsoba’s recent contract extension: “Eddi has enjoyed a great development. When he joined us, he was already talented but very young. Now he’s matured and is a key player in our game. He, his stability and his style of play suit us very well. But he has not only matured enormously as a player, but also in terms of his personality over the past year. He feels the trust of the coach and his entire environment here.”
...January’s Africa Cup of Nations: “Of course, as a club we would prefer to organise such competitions in the summer between seasons, there's no question about that. But first and foremost, we're obviously happy for our players that they can play for their nation and that we have so many internationals in our squad. We've also been planning for the Cup of Nations for some time now and think that we still have a good squad to deal with this period in the best possible way.”
The highlight of the three-day trip will be visits to some upcoming Bundesliga matches. For the media representatives, that includes going to Borussia Mönchengladbach's match against Hoffenheim on Saturday. The trip will conclude the day after with the Werkself's match against Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena (kick-off: 17:30 CET).
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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