Montrell Culbreath
The winger came to Leverkusen from FC Kaiserslautern two years ago and in his first season with the U17s he was directly involved in more than one goal per game on average. Last season the 17-year-old Germany youth international played a big part in the U19s reaching the German championship final.
Ben Hawighorst
Leverkusen through and through – and a player who leads the way. In addition to his role as captain of the Werkself U17 team last season, the defender also led out the Germany U17s. The left-footer, who has already been at Bayer 04 for seven years, has again and again played for the U19s in selected matches. That includes the UEFA Youth League where he started five out of six games. The 17-year-old has been a member of the U19 squad since the summer.
Jeremiah Mensah
The versatile offensive player, like Ben Hawighorst, again and again switched between the U17 and U19 teams last season. The Germany youth international has been at Bayer 04 since he was six. The one-year older brother of the 17-year-old, Naba Mensah, is also in the Leverkusen U19 squad.
Osman Turay
Bayer 04 signed the 17-year-old left-sided defender from Schalke 04 in the middle of June. The Germany youth international will play for the Werkself U19 team. In last season's finals of the Germany U19 championship he was in both knockout matches for Schalke, including against Bayer 04, over the full distance including extra time.
Simeon Rapsch
The 17-year-old completes the goalkeeper line-up at the training camp. In the summer of last year, the tall keeper left his hometown club FC Viktoria Köln to join Leverkusen where he played in goal for the U17 team. This season he is in the U19 squad.
Nebe Domnic
The youngest of the travelling talented youngsters is a full-back. The Germany youth international, who joined Leverkusen from FC Viktoria Köln in 2022, has been part of the U19 squad since the summer at the age of 16.
Ferdinand Pohl
A classic Bayer 04 home-grown player. The central defender, who made over 30 appearances for the U19s, played as a number six in the closing stages of last season due to injuries to teammates. The 18-year-old has already played for Germany youth teams.
Dustin Buck
A week ago, Bayer 04 announced the signing of the 17-year-old offensive player. The Germany U17 international joined Leverkusen from the youth set-up at FC Augsburg. He prefers to play on the right wing but he can also play in the centre-forward position.
Emmanuel Owen
In his first season under the Cross, the left-footer signed from TSG Hoffenheim in the summer played as a winger in 22 games for U19s.
Ken Izekor
The powerful centre-forward has been at Bayer 04 since the age of eleven. Having joined the club from Alemannia Aachen back then, he progressed through all the Werkself youth sides and he was in running to play for the Germany U16 and U17 teams.
Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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