Following on from goalkeeper Andrey Lunev, signed from Zenit St Petersburg, Mitchel Bakker also had his first training session with the Werkself. Head coach Gerardo Seoane held a two-hour session on Tuesday morning. 20 outfield players and four keepers were able to enjoy fast-paced drills with the ball. In an 11 v 11 match, new signing Bakker was able to go up and down the left flank. His fellow countrymen Daley Sinkgraven trained on his own.
The Werkself have their first friendly on Wednesday, 14 July. Bayer 04, wearing the brand-new home kit, entertain third division SV Wehen Wiesbaden at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. The kick-off is at 18.00 CEST and Bayer 04 will show the match live on the club's YouTube channel, Sport1 is also broadcasting friendly.
Bakker’s first day at work in Leverkusen involved several duties. The German Football League (DFL) Media Day was on the agenda a few days before the training camp in Zell am See/Kaprun (16-23 July). The players completed several photo and video opportunities in the west wing of the BayArena and on the training pitch 1.
Leon Bailey was not involved in Media Day. The Werkself winger is currently playing for Jamaica in the USA at the Gold Cup, the North and Central American equivalent of the European Championship. In the opening match, the favourites with the Bayer Bayer 04 player in their starting line-up overcame Suriname – final score: 2-0. Bailey played until the closing stages of the game.
The successful Jamaican team are in action again overnight from Friday to Saturday. The kick-off is at 00.30 CEST in the game against opponents Guadalupe in Orlando where the Werkself held three winter training camps between 2015 and 2017.
His input: impressive. His goals: wonderful and enormously important. The Werkself centre-forward Patrik Schick scored five goals in five games for the Czech Republic in the European Championship – only Cristiano Ronaldo did better than that with one more assist. The 25-year-old and his teammates surprisingly reached the quarter-finals. However, that was the end of the road for the Czech Republic but their striker justifiably secured a place in the best team of the tournament.
The ARD Sportschau named the Bayer 04 player in their 'EURO top 11'. ran and Sky also included the Leverkusen player in their Euro 2020 teams. Congratulations on a great tournament, Patrik!
Following the launch of the home kit (click HERE for the shirt) large numbers of our new merchandise have landed in virtual or physical shopping baskets. In addition to the Black and Red striped shirts, you can also secure the brand-new goalkeeper shirt. Hradecky and Co. will play in grass green in the 2020/21 season. You can enjoy browsing or buying the new goalkeeper kit at the Bayer 04 fan shop, at www.jako.de and at the Bayer 04 shop in Leverkusen-Wiesdorf (Wiesdorfer Platz 9).
Jester, cheerful soul and now an experienced Bundesliga player: Danny da Costa joined the youth section at Bayer 04 in the summer of 2001 from Winfriedia Mülheim. Nine years later he was in the final of the U17 Bundesliga but just missed out on winning the title. December 2010 brought the first team debut for da Costa – the right-back played in the second half of the Europa League home game against Atlético Madrid (1-1). He made twelve further appearances for the Werkself before moving on to FC Ingolstadt 04. Da Costa has now been at Eintracht Frankfurt for four years and he was recently on loan to FSV Mainz 05 for six months. The Bayer 04 home-grown player celebrates his 28th birthday today (Tuesday). Many happy returns, Danny!
With sixth place at the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign, Bayer 04 ended a season in the top third of the table for the ninth time in a row. While the Werkself were narrowly eliminated in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 by eventual finalists Arsenal, the Black and Reds reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third season in succession. As in previous years, you once again have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app up to and including 11 June.
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With 46 points in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, the Bayer 04 Women’s team once again broke the previous season's club record and ended up in fifth place - 15 wins is also a record. As in previous years, you now have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is open exclusively to Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app by 11 June.
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The guests at the Scala Club in Leverkusen were amazed when host Reiner Calmund suddenly brought the Managing Director of Sport at Bayer 04, Simon Rolfes, and record Werkself appearance maker Rüdiger Vollborn onto the stage. As part of the show "An Evening with Football & Friends", organised by long-serving Bayer 04 managing director and general manager Calmund, the two surprise guests drew plenty of applause - and provided great entertainment in exciting conversations about the past and future.
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Rogier Meijer is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and returning to his native Netherlands: The 44-year-old will take over at Eredivisie club Sparta Rotterdam on 1 July. Meijer has been part of the Werkself coaching set-up since the start of the 2025/26 season - first as assistant coach to Erik ten Hag, then on Kasper Hjulmand's staff.
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