"We signed Amine Adli in 2021 as a big talent from the second division in France. As hoped and expected by us, he has now developed into a top player in the Bundesliga," said Bayer 04 sporting managing director Simon Rolfes in assessing the progress of the 1.78 metre tall striker. "Amine has a great influence on our game but he has also made a significant contribution to the success of Bayer 04 as an important factor within the dressing room. We are happy that we can build on his sporting and personal qualities in future."
The tricky, agile and fast left footer showed himself to be happy with the extension of his contract at Leverkusen: "It's a great pleasure for me to be able to carry on the path I've taken at Bayer 04," said Adli. "We have a special team spirit in the dressing room, on the pitch and with our fans. My expectations have been more than fulfilled and I'll give my all for us to achieve great things in the future and be able to win titles. I'm proud of wearing the club jersey."
Adli signed for Bayer 04 from the French second division club FC Toulouse two and a half years ago. Since then he has played 126 games the Werkself scoring 21 goals and providing 22 assists.
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
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On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
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After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
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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 personal 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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