And, after the transfer to Bayer 04 took so long, 'Drago' is keen to finally get started.
"I'm glad it's all finally worked out after what feels like three years," said Dragovic in the afternoon at a first press conference at his new home of the BayArena. He explained in his thoughtful manner the reasons for the move: "I like the style of Bayer 04 and it's similar to that of the national team. I think I can develop well here."
The sporting reasons for his moving to Leverkusen was not the only factor with the political situation in Ukraine also playing a role. "The country is at war and you can't ignore that," said Dragovic who does not regret the move from FC Basel to Dynamo Kiev. "I’ve matured a lot there over the last couple of years," he declared.
And that is why he gave everything for his former club right up to the last minute. Loyalty and commitment-Dragovic likes those virtues. He certainly does not lack character and he is commanding at the tender age of 25. He earned his 50th cap for Austria in Georgia and is one of his country's key players. He is looking to reproduce that at Leverkusen and he took the first steps on Tuesday. "When I joined Rambo and Julian in the dressing room I was the happiest person on earth," said Dragovic. It would be harder to get off to a better start.
In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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