A total of 19 players from 13 Bundesliga clubs are currently in the running for the Golden Boy 2026 award. These include Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane and Montrell Culbreath, who were already on the list in May, as well as summer signings Kerim Alajbegovic and Kennet Eichhorn. Also represented is Francis Onyeka, who recently signed a contract with Bayer 04 to 2032 and is currently on loan at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg.
The Golden Boy award:
Awarded annually since 2003 by the Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport, the prize honours Europe’s most talented player. The ranking is based on performance data, potential, league and club strength, and market value. This year, an initial Golden Boy Top 100 list was published in May, followed by an updated edition this week and further updates in the coming months. In October, the list will be narrowed down to a top 20, before an international panel of pundits finally selects the Golden Boy 2026. This year, the selection process will include all players born in 2006 or later who play in one of the 25 strongest European top-flight leagues.
Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
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After 62 days of preparation, the time has finally come: the Werkself kick off the new Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga season on Sunday (16:00 CEST) with an away match at RB Leipzig. Following a major shake-up over the summer, with eleven players leaving and twelve new signings, initial impressions from the past few weeks have given manager Roberto Pätzold great cause for optimism.
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SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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