Bayer 04 will be without the services of goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky longer than expected in the pre-season. In the operation to remove a wisdom tooth on Friday, the Finn also had to have a cyst removed from his jaw. The unscheduled operation was a success although it does involve a significantly longer recovery period due to the work on the jaw. Hradecky is expected to return to training in three to five weeks.
"We have a very strong set of goalkeepers and we will be able to make up for the loss and we have great confidence in Ramazan Özcan and Thorsten Kirschbaum," said head coach Heiko Herrlich, who only received the bad news at the BayArena following the afternoon training session. "I'm most sorry for Lukas who joined us full of ambition and now has to watch from the sidelines," added Herrlich. "But he is in the best hands with our medical section and the coaches and the players will do all they can to support Lukas. He will be given time to recover completely."
Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 midfielder Jonah Berghoff ahead of schedule. The Germany U18 international has signed professional terms with the club to 30 June 2030.
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Two months of preparation, five friendlies and the return of a familiar training camp location: After finishing fifth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga last season, the Werkself will return to training on Tuesday, 23 June. Bayer04.de outlines the key dates in the 2026 summer timetable.
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