News in brief: Fosu-Mensah also back in training

Players coming back from injury are making progress: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who wasn't on the pitch yesterday, completed the majority of drills with his teammates on Tuesday. And Amine Adli, who was working with the ball on his own at the start of the week, also completed one or two drills under head coach Gerardo Seoane.

In addition, Piero Hincapie returned to Germany from South America on Tuesday. The 19-year-old Ecuador international tested positive for Covid-19 over Christmas and then had to self-isolate in his home country. A decision will be taken in the next few days over his inclusion in the squad for the game against Union Berlin on Saturday, 8 January.

Tah and Amiri in TWO-FACE RIDDLE

There is a new Black and Red video on YouTube that is guaranteed to raise a smile. The Werkself players Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri try in a TWO FACE riddle to work out as quickly as possible the identity of two stars that are merged together in one photo. Who is quicker? And who were Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Zinedine Zidane and Rapper Drake merged with? HERE is the video.

congratulations towards Africa

Odilon Kossounou had already gained experience as a professional footballer in different countries on his way to Leverkusen: The defender moved from his home country of Ivory Coast to Sweden in January 2019. FC Brugge soon became aware of the tall Ivorian and tempted him to Belgium after six months. Kossounou stayed with the top club from the neighbouring country for two years before following the call from the Werkself in the summer.

He has made 20 appearances for the Black and Reds to date. He is spending his 21st birthday today in his home country where he was preparing with the Ivory Coast national team for the African Cup of Nations due to start in a few days. Many happy returns and good luck.

happy birthday, Toni

The second birthday boy of the day, Toni Kroos, no longer plays for the Black and Reds. In his 18 months on loan under the Bayer Cross, the Greifswald-born midfielder laid the foundations for his career as a world-class player. Having arrived from Bayern Munich in January 2009, the playmaker made 43 appearances for the Werkself in the Bundesliga (10 goals, 13 assists).

After returning to FC Bayern, Kroos was champion of Germany and also DFB Cup winner three times each. In 2014, in the year of his move to Real Madrid, he won the World Championship title with Germany. Kroos won the Champions League for the second, third and fourth time with the Spanish club and also picked up numerous national titles. The former Leverkusen today celebrates his 32nd birthday. Many happy returns and here's to many more successful years, Toni.