The central midfielder will play for the Bayer 04 U19 team. 16-year-old Sertdemir, who is of Turkish descent, is set to start with the first team squad in the pre-season under the new Leverkusen head coach Gerardo Seoane. The Swiss coach will meet up with his players for the first time on 5 July in Leverkusen.
“Zidan Sertdemir has a special talent. His signing is a great success for our scouting department after having had him on their radar for three years,” reported Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes. “We see great potential in Zidan and believe he will make the grade in professional football. That’s why we are including him in training with the first team straight away. Zidan should get experience with the senior squad early on and then take his time in moving up to the next level.”
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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