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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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