Kohr “absolute key player” thanks to extra sessions

Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund)

In January 2014, Bayer 04 signed the then 17-year-old top talent Julian Brandt from the VfL Wolfsburg U19s where he won the Germany U19s championship in 2013. Born in Bremen, Julian spent five and half years at Leverkusen, winning the Fritz Walter gold medal in the U18 youth player category, and he matured into an established Bundesliga player and Germany international. Last season, Brandt joined Borussia Dortmund after scoring seven goals and providing 14 assists in his final season with the Werkself.

In August 2019, the forward won the Super Cup against FC Bayern (2-0) to pick up his first title with BVB. In the early stages of the season, coach Lucien Favre mainly played Brandt on the wings. The former Leverkusen player moved into the centre of midfield over the course of the first half of the season and developed – as with Bayer 04 – into a key player in the attack. At the end of the Bundesliga season, the Confed Cup winner of 2017 had made 33 Bundesliga appearances scoring three goals and providing eight assists.

Dominik Kohr (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Dominik Kohr took a big step forward at the age of 14 when he left his home region of Trier to join the Bayer 04 academy. The defender moved up to the first team squad for the 2012/13 season and he was also awarded the Fritz Walter bronze medal in the U18 and U19 age groups. However, he was unable to find a regular slot with the Werkself. So Kohr and Bayer 04 opted for a loan period at FC Augsburg. FCA were so impressed by defender that they decided to sign him. He was bought back by Leverkusen in 2017 after he developed so well before moving on to Eintracht Frankfurt last summer.

The U21 European Champion of 2017 appeared regularly in central midfield, particularly towards the end of the season. The positive development over the course of the campaign was also due to Kohr having discussions with head coach Adi Hütter about how he could improve – with success. He worked on his fitness and pace in extra sessions. "He feels much better physically, can make the long runs and has great confidence. I'm very happy with him. He's become an absolute key player," said Hütter in the middle of June about Kohr who he played in 26 league games.

Thorsten Kirschbaum (VVV-Venlo)

The experienced player has been involved in professional football since 2006 and he has been at a number of clubs. From the youth set-up at FC Nürnberg, he moved on to the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim U19 squad and he played his first senior match there. Via FC Vaduz (Switzerland), SV Sandhausen, Energie Cottbus, VfB Stuttgart and Nürnberg again, Kirschbaum signed for Bayer 04 in the summer of 2018. The Würzburg-born goalkeeper played in the Europa League away game at AEK Larnaca (5-1). The 33-year-old joined the Dutch club VVV Venlo ahead of last season.

In the city on the German border, the keeper is a regular first choice and he played every minute of the 26 matchdays of the Eredivisie season that ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kirschbaum secured personal recognition before the break enforced by coronavirus: The keeper, who still lives in Germany, was voted the Eredivisie Player of the Month of February.

sam schreck (fc Groningen)

Just before coming-of-age, the sporting and private home for Sam Schreck was in the far north, in and around Hamburg to be exact. Born in Pinneberg, he went from the Hamburg SV youth set-up to local rivals FC St. Pauli via TuS Appen and Kummerfelder SV. Schreck left the Hanseatic city for Leverkusen in the summer of 2016. The versatile midfielder played for the Bayer 04 U19s two seasons before moving up to the senior squad in 2018 where he made two appearances in the Europa League. A year later he left for the Netherlands.

FC Groningen signed Schreck on a long-term deal to 2023. In the curtailed season, the former Leverkusen player was in the matchday squad for the club from the northern Dutch student city 26 times and he made 13 appearances. The now 21-year-old Schreck provided the assist for the second goal in the 2-1 win against top team Ajax.

jan boller (LASK)

Jan Boller grew up around 100 kilometres away from Leverkusen and up to the age of 13 he mainly played for his village club of TSV Weißtal. The Bayer 04 scouts became aware of the midfielder and signed for the U15s. Born in Siegen, he played in all of the 29 games in the U17 Bundesliga for the Black and Reds in the 2015/16 season. In the same year, now playing as a central defender, he lined up alongside Kai Havertz and Co. in winning the Germany U17 championships. Boller was awarded his first professional contract in February of last year and in the summer of 2019 he was signed by the Austrian club LASK.

The first division side loaned out the former Leverkusen player to their feeder team FC Juniors OÖ, who play in the second tier. From matchday three, Boller played the full 90 minutes in 17 matches in succession. The 20-year-old made 21 appearances and ended up the season in ninth place with the Juniors. His contract at Linz runs to the summer of 2021 and the club has an option to extend the deal by 12 months.

Tomasz Kucz (Vitória Guimarães B)

Tomasz Kucz moved from Warsaw to Leverkusen at the age of 16 in 2015. The goalkeeper, who started as an outfield player and was a member of the Polonia youth team in his home country before moving to Germany, played for the Bayer 04 U19s for three years. In the first half of the 2018/19 season, Kucz was mainly the fourth choice keeper and in the second half of the season he went out on loan to Slovakia to play for DAC Dunajska Streda managed by the former Leverkusen coach Peter Hyballa. After returning to the Rhineland, he moved permanently to Vitória Guimarães B team.

Kucz played in the third division for the reserve team of the North Portuguese club last season. The league campaign was abandoned after 25 games due to the coronavirus pandemic with Kucz and Co. ending the campaign in third place. Leverkusen's winter signing Edmond Tapsoba was also at Kucz's current team where he went up from the reserves to the senior side to play in the Portuguese top flight.