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8.07.2019Bayer 04

Five internationals return– Baumgartlinger back on Wednesday

After Saturday's 4-0 win against Wuppertaler SV in the first friendly of the pre-season and the day off on Sunday, the Werkself returned to the training ground on Monday morning. The international players Kai Havertz, Lukas Hradecky, Tin Jedvaj, Paulinho and Aleksandar Dragovic were back on board for the first time.
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The five returned to the BayArena on Sunday morning to complete the performance tests in the Werkstatt that the rest of the squad put behind them on Thursday. "It was good! Everything went perfectly for me," said Kai Havertz. "You keep fit on holiday to make sure you pass the tests." But in the first two weeks after the international fixtures it was a question of putting his feet up – "switching off and doing nothing is also important. But then I started my individual training programme that they gave us to use at home," explained the 20-year-old.

The returnees first completed an individual warm-up routine in the training session before moving on to passing and shooting drills and finally joining the rest of the squad for a practice match. Havertz had a positive impression of the three new signings Kerem Demirbay, Moussa Diaby and Daley Sinkgraven: "We've done very well strengthening the squad and we'll definitely have fun with these players."

Baumgartlinger Still in rehab

At the start of the week, Peter Bosz had 20  pros plus the two U19 players Adrian Stanilewicz and Marcel Lotka at his disposal. Jonathan Tah, Charles Aránguiz and Leon Bailey will join the rest of the squad at the training camp in Zell am See-Kaprun (15 to 21 July). Julian Baumgartlinger is still sidelined. The Austrian injured an ankle in the international break and is currently working on a one-to-one basis in rehab with a physiotherapist in Munich. Baumgartlinger is expected to return to Leverkusen on Wednesday.

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