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.
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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 personalised 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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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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