"We have signed a very experienced player in Santiago Arias who will quickly be able to help us," declared the sporting managing director Rudi Völler."This transfer is important for the structure of our team due to the large number of fixtures over the coming weeks."
Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes has worked hard over recent weeks to bring in Arias and he sees in the Colombian a player, "who has proved himself at a top European club. The quality of the Spanish league is well known," said Rolfes, "as is Atlético Madrid's. Santiago will be a key player in our team with his footballing ability and his mentality.”
For the right-footer, who will wear the number two shirt for the Werkself, the move to Germany is "a fantastic opportunity to take on a new challenge after two great and successful years in Madrid. Bayer 04 Leverkusen are one of the best clubs in the Bundesliga with a very good reputation in Spain. I experienced how football's played here with Atlético in the Champions League," Arias explained. "That's why I'm very much looking forward to the German league and my new teammates. We have a team that can go a long way – and I want to help achieve that."
Whenever the leading figures in European club football come together, Bayer 04 are right in the thick of it: At the 33rd General Assembly of the European Football Clubs (EFC) in Copenhagen, Fernando Carro, CEO, and Simon Rolfes, Managing Director Sport, discussed key sporting and economic issues for the future.
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Having progressed to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women do not have much time before their next Bundesliga fixture. On Friday night (18:30 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side kick off matchday six at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Werder Bremen – and they have a clear mission.
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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 working 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 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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