Bayer 04 appoint Jefta Bresser as new academy head

Bresser comes from the Dutch second tier club De Graafschap where he achieved great success as the head of the youth academy for the past five years. "Jefta Bresser was responsible for an above average movement of players from the youth section to the first team. Over a half of the pro players at De Graafschap have come through from the club's youth set-up – those are outstanding numbers that to a great extent are down to Jefta's conceptional approach," said Simon Rolfes, Bayer 04 sporting managing director. "With his appointment, we want to carry on along the path we have taken before and drive forward the successful development of the past few years. It's about recruiting a bigger element of homegrown players to our first team squad."

52-year-old Bresser had a managerial role responsible for the individual development of youth players of all age groups between 2005 and 2015 at PSV Eindhoven, Fulham and Zenit St Petersburg. As with his previous clubs, Bresser will have an immediate input into the training of all the Leverkusen youth teams. "For me, it's an attractive and extremely motivating challenge to be able to make a decisive contribution to the youth section at such internationally successful club like Bayer 04 Leverkusen," said Bresser. "The talks with Simon Rolfes and the club won me over straightaway and inspire me for the task I will devote all my energy to: To establish Bayer 04 as a top club for youth football in Germany and beyond."