Werner Wenning, who brought Rolfes back under the Bayer Cross as chair of the shareholders committee in 2018, said: "Simon Rolfes has understood in a special way how to combine his experience and qualities as a player with the demands of management. He has great expertise in the game and an outstanding eye for talent in the global market but he also has an enormous work rate and the unmistakable DNA of Bayer 04. We are very happy that Simon Rolfes will continue to put these qualities to the service of Bayer 04."
Simon Rolfes said: "Bayer 04 was and is a part of my life. I've learned a lot here and I'm happy that I can contribute to the further development of the club together with a lot of professional and committed colleagues. We have achieved a lot in recent years and gained enormous quality and not just on the pitch. Beyond that, Bayer 04 have a lot of what a demanding, modern club hungry for success need to offer. I really have fun working in such professional environment. So I'm very happy to be able to continue together along this exciting path."
Simon Rolfes joined Bayer 04 as a player in 2005 from Alemannia Aachen. Up to the end of his playing career ten years later, he made 377 appearances for the Werkself, scored 49 goals and played a leading role in the team as captain. During his time at Leverkusen, Rolfes made his debut for Germany earning 26 caps and taking part in the 2008 European Championships. After ending his playing career, he completed the two-year UEFA course 'Master for International Players' (MIP). Rolfes returned to Bayer 04 in 2018 to take up the post as head of youth and development and he took over from Jonas Boldt as sporting director five months later. Rolfes was the successor to Rudi Völler in the role of sporting managing director on 1 July 2022.
The Werkself training camp officially began early on Tuesday morning with the landing in Rio de Janeiro. Ahead of the first session in the afternoon local time, bayer04.de profiles the talented youngsters from the youth teams who have travelled to Brazil.
Show morePreparations for the 2025/26 season are in full swing with the new head coach Erik ten Hag working for the start of the season in the middle of August. After the timings for the first matchdays in the forthcoming Bundesliga season were confirmed a few days ago, we now provide information on the first sale phase for match tickets. The early booker phase, exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members, brings some changes. Read on for further information.
Show moreBayer 04 are away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal. The match is on Friday, 15 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST) at the WIRmachenDRUCK Arena. Read on for the latest ticket information.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen will partner closely with parent-company Bayer during its preseason tour to Brazil from July 14 to 24 this month. The backing from Bayer of the “Bayer 04 Brasil Tour” has been crucial in organizing the groundbreaking training camp for ten days, plus a host of local activities and community events capped by the match against Flamengo's U20 team on July 18 at Estádio da Gávea.
Show moreThe bags are packed and Bayer 04 will set off for Brazil in a few hours. Over the next ten days, the team led by head coach Erik ten Hag will be the first Bundesliga side to hold a training camp in the country of the five-time World Cup winners. The Werkself will train at Flamengo’s Campus Ninho do Urubu under the motto ‘Esquenta!’ (warm up) and play a friendly against the U20 team of the world-famous club. Read on for training camp timetable.
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