
"Demarai Gray is a tricky, very fast and penetrating winger who will give our attacking game an additional boost," said Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes in describing the right-footer who was a surprise Champion of England with Leicester City in 2016. "He’s capable of winning out in fast one-on-ones and bringing his teammates into play. Thanks to his experience in the Premier League, Demarai is a player who can help us straightaway."
Sporting managing director Rudi Völler sees Gray, who has dual English and Jamaican nationality, "as important strengthening our squad in view of the large number of games we will face in the second half of the season," said Völler. "Demarai is an unpredictable forward who will give us more options for the rest of the season."
For Gray, who played five games in the Champions League for the Foxes, the move to Bayer 04 is "great opportunity to gain new experience abroad at a very attractive club. The whole world was watching when the Bundesliga was the first big league to start playing again last year after the break caused by the coronavirus. I like German football," declared Gray. "I've seen how Bayer 04 attack, are aggressive with great technique going forward and like to dictate the game through possession. I'll fit in well. I can, and I would, like to develop here and be successful with this attractive team."

Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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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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