It is hard to remember Kai Havertz was still in the U19 squad last season: The Bayer 04 pro now receives the gold Fritz Walter medal as the best U19 player in Germany. The Werkself youngster is the youngest-ever player in the history of the Bundesliga to make 50 appearances in Germany's top-flight. Kai set the record at the age of 18 years and 307 days in a 4-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 30 of the 2017/18 campaign.
"In terms of his ability and technique, he is outstanding at times. He will continue to develop over the next few years and become a great player if he maintains his current mentality. Kai has the talent and potential to become a world star," said Julian Brandt in praise of his team-mate after the game against Frankfurt. Havertz, who played for Bayer 04 in the Champions League in 2016/17 at the same time he was studying for his Abitur exams, has now made 54 Bundesliga appearances and been involved in 22 goals. Seven goals and 15 assists – an outstanding return for a midfielder.
Havertz, who joined Leverkusen from Alemannia Aachen as an eleven-year-old in 2010 and went on to win the U17 German Championships with Bayer 04, will be awarded the gold Fritz Walter medal on 9 September in Heidelberg at the international fixture between Germany and Peru. Two years ago, the DFB awarded Kai Havertz the silver Fritz Walter medal with the U17s. Back then, Benjamin Henrichs won the gold medal with the U19s.
Other Bayer 04 players to win this award were Jonathan Tah (U19, 2015) and Julian Brandt (U18, 2014). Brandt also picked up the silver medal in 2013 with the U17s – as did Levin Öztunali with the U18s in 2014. Dominik Kohr earned bronze with the U19s in 2013 and in 2012 with the U18s. Before that, Bayer 04 players Kolja Pusch (bronze in 2010 with the U17s), Marcel Risse (bronze in 2008 with the U19s), Richard Sukuta-Pasu (bronze in 2008 with the U18s), Stefan Reinartz (bronze in 2007 with the U18s) and Nils Teixeira (bronze in 2007 with the U17s) also received Fritz Walter medals.
"The Fritz Walter medal is now established as the most significant individual award in German youth football," said Joti Chatzialexiou, sporting director of national teams. "The award winners have outstanding qualities, great sporting ambition and away from the pitch they stand out with their team spirit and their demeanour. It's important to us that the talented youngsters see the medals as great inspiration: Your target has to be to continually improve and go on to appear for the senior side later on." Not many people would be surprised if 'later' turned into 'soon' for Kai Havertz. He has earned 30 caps for Germany youth teams to date and has scored seven goals in eight matches for the U19 side.
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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