
“Francis Onyeka is a child of the club and Bayer 04 through and through. That makes me even happier to see his outstanding development, ” said sporting managing director Simon Rolfes. “We are firmly convinced Francis will continue to have a successful career with us.”
Onyeka started playing for the Bayer 04 junior sides from the age of seven. The Gummersbach-born player, who joined Leverkusen from SC Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind, scored three goals for the Germany U17 team in the autumn in three Euro qualifiers.
Onyeka has found the back of the net six times in six games in the U17 Bundesliga West. The talented youngster has also made nine appearances in the U19 Bundesliga West (2 goals). The Germany youth player also trains with Werkself on a regular basis and is registered for UEFA Europa League.
“Bayer 04 is exactly right club for me,” said Onyeka. “The set-up is ideal, the support is brilliant. I see the opportunity of becoming a successful professional footballer here.“

Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 win at SC Freiburg on Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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