Sporting director Simon Rolfes sees the long-term deal with Wirtz as "a powerful statement from the club of how we will handle things in the future here at Leverkusen. With top quality players, at the same time capable of development where Bayer 04 has been a highly desirable club for many years. Florian Wirtz is equally a promise for the future as well as a guarantee for sporting success in the present," declared Rolfes. "He's impressive as well as brave and confident in the way he has progressed in professional football up to now. Flo has what it takes to become a top player in the Bundesliga in the next few years and also an important part of the Germany team."
Bayer 04 sporting managing director Rudi Völler is also very happy about the long-term deal with Wirtz. "Not only has he had his first call-up to the Germany squad but Florian has also made fantastic progress over the past year-and-a-half here at Leverkusen," said Völler. "His outstanding talent was obviously apparent and it gave us great hope when we signed him as a 16-year-old. But it was definitely not to be expected that Florian would already be a key player in our first team. Given his youth and the fact he is currently doing his A-levels it is an extraordinary achievement," said Völler. "If Florian continues to develop in the same way then he can be an absolute leader and a key part of our team in the next few years."
The now 18-year-old Florian Wirtz, who has played for the Werkself since January 2020, said he "found everything at Bayer 04 Leverkusen as described and promised. I'm playing for a great club here, one of the best in Germany who I want to be with in the coming years to have a go at the biggest targets," said Wirtz. "I've really been able to improve on the pitch in a great team – that is and remains my aim. With my performances, I want to contribute to us being able to win titles in the near future."
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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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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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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