Our ‘golden boy’ is back! Four days after the win for Brazil in the Olympic final played in Yokohama, Paulinho was already back on the training ground at the BayArena. Ahead of the warm-up, he was congratulated on this very special title with a round of applause from his teammates. Visibly in a good mood and fall of zest for action, the 21-year-old winger completed his first session under the new Werkself head coach Gerardo Seoane.
Left-back Mitchel Bakker also returned to training on Tuesday. Following his thigh injury and individual sessions in the past few days, the new signing from Paris Saint-Germain took part in all the drills in the one-hour morning session.
The first training session of the day was followed in the afternoon by the monthly internal Media Day where the Werkself players run through various social media formats and small photo shoots. This time returnee Paulinho took a special role; the Olympic champion was photographed at the BayArena with his gold medal. In addition, new signing Odilon Kossounou faced the popular social media Q&A 'Black or Red?'..
As with the players in the second division two weeks ago, the players in Germany's top flight will also start the new season by supporting the DFL #ÄrmelHoch (sleeves up) campaign. The plan is for players to run onto the pitch with their teammates with their right sleeves rolled up. The idea is for the Bundesliga clubs to raise awareness of the significance of vaccinations in the battle against coronavirus.
The Werkself are away to FC Union Berlin at the start of the new season on Saturday, 14 August. The match at the Alte Försterei Stadium kicks off at 15.30 CEST.
Numerous greats of German football more come together at the Mosel STADIUM in Trier on Wednesday night to support the victims of the flooding disaster in the region. Under the motto 'Help after the flood: The benefit match of German football' the event will involve DFB All Stars, the Rhineland Palatinate Lotto team and the national team of mayors playing each other.
Former Werkself players involved with the teams are Jens Nowotny, Philipp Wollscheid, Lukas Sinkiewicz and Thomas Zdebel. SPORT1 will broadcast the game live from 20.30 CEST with the three matches lasting 35 minutes each.
Tickets for the match are available for €5, €10 and €15 from Ticket Regional. Tickets can be bought online from all the usual booking offices or via the hotline on 0651 9790 777. Donations can be made by the donation platform betterplace.org.
Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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