…his first impressions of Bayer 04: The players, staff and management – have all been really nice to me and they made me feel positive straight away. I’d like to thank everybody for that. It was a good start for me here in Leverkusen. Now it’s all about continuing to work hard and fulfilling expectations.
…his style of play: I left my home country of the Netherlands for England at the age of 16. Before that, I’d already been in the youth teams at Ajax for eight years. They gave me a very good footballing education. I’d describe my playing style as a mix of Dutch and English football. Both the experiences from my time at Ajax and the time at Manchester United help my game to continue developing now.
…the advantage of having a fellow Dutchman as head coach at Bayer 04 in Peter Bosz: Of course, it’s a positive. But the main reason for my decision to join Bayer 04 was the club as a whole. Simon Rolfes and the other members of management explained the club’s approach to the game and they gave me a positive feeling from the start.
…his departure from Manchester: Unfortunately, I was injured for a long time from the end of my loan period at Fulham (2018/19, ed.). After my torn cruciate, Solskjaer (Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, ed.) gave me the chance of another season. I’m very grateful to him for that. But you have to play regularly at my age. And unfortunately that wasn’t the case at the end. That made the move in the winter a good decision.
…the influence of his schoolmate and United teammate Marcus Rashford, who’s known for his massive social commitment: What Marcus has achieved off the pitch in the past few years is wonderful and absolutely impressive. He has inspired a lot of people with his ideas and projects, including me. I wanted to help out in my hometown Amsterdam and, above all at the start of the pandemic, I supported a lot of families with food and other needs of daily life. The feedback from the people moved me and really pleased me.
…similarities between Bayer 04 and the English record champions Manchester United: Both clubs have a great reputation all over Europe. They both also have very experienced management who are extremely professional.
…winning the Europa League final in 2017 with Manchester United against Ajax then under head coach Peter Bosz: I haven’t talked to him about the game yet. But I don’t think he’d like to talk about it. (He laughs) We have a chance of winning that title with Bayer 04 this season. And I also hope to be able to experience the feeling of triumph this season for the club, the fans and our coach. Bayer 04 did very well in the Europa League last season and were unlucky to get knocked out by Inter Milan in the end. I hope we will all be able to celebrate together this year.
Striker Verena Wieder is leaving Bayer 04 Women after four years to join fellow Google Pixel Bundesliga club Werder Bremen at the end of the season when her contract expires.
Show moreRüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, is Bayer 04’s record appearance holder in the Bundesliga with 401 games, and is the only Leverkusen 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 encyclopaedia takes Werkself fans on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month with our series ‘Rudi recounts…’.
Show moreThe Werkself are away at Roma for the first leg of their 2023/24 UEFA Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday, 2 May (kick-off 9pm CEST). The Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team has all the info you need for the match at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital…
Show moreLike last season, the Werkself visit AS Roma in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. The first leg kicks off tonight, Thursday 2 May, at 21:00 CEST. All the key info on the clash at the Stadio Olimpico is in the Matchday News.
Show more