"With Kai Havertz we have once again brought a promising youth player through to our first team squad," said Bayer 04 CEO Michael Schade. "That fits in completely with our strategy of trying to pave a direct way for our talented youngsters from the Kurtekotten Academy into the BayArena. Kai Havertz and Benjamin Henrichs represent our successful concept of developing our home-grown players into outstanding Bundesliga players."
The versatile Havertz, awarded a silver Fritz Walter Medal by the DFB, was one of the outstanding newcomers in the Bundesliga last season. "Kai has special qualities and beyond that is also blessed with a maturity that raises him above other players of his age," said Bayer 04 sporting director Rudi Völler. "He has technical ability, is capable of scoring and is good in the air. After a great start in professional football we want to continue to support Kai's development. He has huge potential that will unfold in the next few years."
For the youth international, signing the contract is a long-cherished desire: "I've worked for this moment over the past few years. I feel great's satisfaction and pride. I'm happy to finally really being part of it all after last season when I still had to finish school. I've got my A-levels now and a professional contract at Bayer 04 - it feels great."
Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan deal for Jeanuel Belocian to join fellow Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old defender’s contract in Leverkusen runs until 30 June 2029.
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After Leverkusen's eSports team spectacularly won the first showdown in the history of the VBL Club Championship last year, two rather sobering editions followed with two early exits. Now, in Showdown Four, cousins Marc and Sean Landwehr have once again made it into the offline knockout phase. And in this phase, Bochum awaits on Monday, 2 February (live on the VBL's Twitch channel from 16:00 CET). Here's a look at their opponents and what might happen next.
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SAB-P GmbH is to become Bayer 04 Leverkusen's first official inclusion partner. The company, which has previously been involved in the club's Business Club, is underlining its social commitment to inclusion with an agreement that runs until 31 May 2027. Among other things, it will be the shirt sponsor of the Inclusion Team from the 2026/27 season onwards.
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The Werkself were impressive in the 3-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt with clinical finishing and a first half "at a high level" that head coach Kasper Hjulmand draws a lot of positives from. The same should apply to Arthur, who scored for the first time in the Bundesliga. Edmond Tapsoba, for his part, was happy about his 250th appearance in a Bayer 04 jersey. "I think we're slowly finding our feet again," said goalscorer Malik Tillman, summing up the performance. The Werkself review.
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