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.
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.
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.
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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin from Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 32-year-old joins the Werkself from the Lower Rhine Bundesliga club on loan to the end of the current season. This is the reaction of Bayer 04 to the injury to first choice keeper Mark Flekken, who faces a long spell on the sidelines.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Jonas Omlin. Bayer 04 have signed the 32-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach until the end of the season. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes described the Swiss shot stopper, signed by the Werkself in reaction to the long-term absence of first choice keeper Mark Flekken, as an "internationally experienced keeper." Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the new signing, who will wear the number 18 jersey.
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Lucas Vázquez was the hero in Saturday's 1-0 home win against Werder Bremen, when the Spaniard scored his first Bundesliga goal to secure an important victory for Leverkusen. The 34-year-old right-sided recently met up with the Werkself magazine for an interview in the Düsseldorf restaurant Casa Galicia after the first few months of settling in to his new home in Germany. Over tapas, the five-time Champions League winner, who left Real Madrid in the summer after 18 years to continue his career at Bayer 04, spoke about his career to date, the new challenge in Leverkusen and the importance of family - and he paid a big compliment to the fans of his new club.
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