The Werkself will play "with the cross on the chest" at home in the new season. There will be a prominent red cross on the black home shirt That is an expression of the link to the Bayer Works, the source of both the club and the city of Leverkusen. The shirt has been available for a week at the online shop as well as at the Bayer 04 fan shops.
And the special design has gone down well with the fans. Compared with last year, nearly twice as many home shirts have been sold in the same period of time. The positive response is comparable with the enthusiastic reaction of the Leverkusen support to the Werkself home shirt two years ago. Back then, there was a reminder of the legendary Champions League season in 2001/02, when Bayer 04 reached the final against Real Madrid, with a home shirt with black and red stripes that immediately after its introduction led to a similar run as in this year.
Bayer 04 fans can look forward to the new 2023/24 away shirt this week. It will be launched on Friday morning 21 July and the Werkself will play in the new shirts for the first time in that evening's friendly against SC Paderborn. New signings Granit Xhaka, Jonas Hofmann and Alejandro Grimaldo are set to feature.
The kick-off at the IMS Arena in Velbert is at 17.30 CEST with tickets available to Bayer 04 fans from 16.00 CEST at counter four. And the new away kit will also be available on site.
Bayer 04 will present the third kit for the 2023/24 season on 9 August.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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