Almost like a phoenix from the ashes, winter signing Edmond Tapsoba has become a regular starter in the team under head coach Peter Bosz. “It’s a dream come true,” said the 21-year-old in an interview with the Werks11 Magazine. Tapsoba talks about his unusual career path and explains why he had to change his sleeping habits after his move from Portugal to adjust to the German mentality.
His Leverkusen teammate Patrik Schick joined the Werkself in the summer. The Czech Republic international, who became a father for the first time in October, came to Leverkusen via Prague, Genoa, Rome and Leipzig and now provides an interview with the Werks11 Magazine on top of the famous Leverkusen Water Tower.
Under the title “Perfect long-distance relationship”, the magazine looks at the special link between Bayer 04 and America, which reached a milestone in September. The signing of the Colombian Santiago Arias (Atlético Madrid) marked the arrival of the 40th player from America in the Rhineland to play for the Black and Reds. In addition to the defender, unfortunately sidelined with a long-term injury, six other players from the other side of the Atlantic are in the current Bayer 04 squad.
The Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) started it’s fourth season on 10 November. Bayer 04 are competing again and the successful duo of Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin and Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae are looking to make a good start together with two new signings at the #B04eSports team. The Werks11 Magazine introduces both eSports players and also talks to Florian Dederichs, head of eSports at Bayer 04, about the importance of virtual football for the club.
Click HERE to access the new edition. Enjoy the read!
You can browse all the previous Werks11 Magazines since edition 1 from 2015/16 at bayer04.de.
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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