The 22-year-old gave his first interview on Bayer 04 TV yesterday and today he was interviewed by journalists after his first training session. "I'm just really happy to finally be at Bayer 04 – here you have everything you want. My aim is to settle in, give my all and quickly integrate with the team," said Amiri. The first training session with his new team-mates gave him the taste for more. "It's a great group here with lots of young and hungry players," said the former Hoffenheim player.
The new Werkself number 11 certainly put in a shift in his first session: Peter Bosz and his fellow coaches once again prepared a high-intensity session – with lots of sprints and finally a competitive training match. "It was really very tough today," declared Amiri. No wonder that most of the Werkself players were laid out on their backs taking a breather after a tough 90-minute work out before the communal finish.
In addition to Amiri, Charles Aránguiz was also back on the training ground after yesterday taking part in full training for the first time following his extended holiday due to his participation in the Copa America. Three players were out injured on Wednesday. Mitchell Weiser, Lars Bender and Joel Pohjanpalo. Julian Baumgartlinger was also missing as he was rested. The Austrian should – after the day off on Thursday – return to training with team on Friday. Moussa Diaby completed a one-to-one session with fitness coach Daniel Jouvain on a neighbouring pitch.
Young Werkself fans could hardly wait for the summer holidays. Once again, the Bayer 04 Soccer School summer camp was open. Hundreds of football crazy youngsters have taken part in the camps this summer where they enjoyed their favourite pastime and learned one or two new tricks. The youngsters spend a week at Bayer 04 and are coached under professional conditions. A highlight of the camp for years: A Werkself pro calls in on the kids. Last week it was the turn of Kerem Demirbay and this Wednesday saw Daley Sinkgraven appear as a guest at the media centre in the BayArena. He received a great and vocal reception from the camp participants. The Werkself new signing took his place on the top table where the Werkself number 22 was peppered with questions from the kids in the style of a real press conference. When all the questions had been answered, it was time for an autograph or a selfie. And it ended with a group photograph being taken as a memento.
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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