The big moment came at exactly 22.37 CET and Emrehan Gedikli was unable to hide a little smile. Head coach Peter Bosz again called up the young striker to his squad for the home game against Hapoel Be’er Sheva (4-1) – and Gedikli came on with ten minutes to play make his first team debut at the age of 17 years, seven months and one day.
And at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre the staff were getting right behind homegrown talent Gedikli who is currently completing a course as a sports and fitness sales executive at Bayer 04. Thomas Eichin, head of the youth section: "I'm incredibly happy that Emrehan has been able to make the step up. He's worked hard for it. The lad has been with us since the U8s and now is suddenly playing alongside the senior players in the Europa League at the age of 17."
Florian Wirtz was even younger than Gedikli when he made his first-team debut for the Black and Reds. Our number 27 is the youngest Bundesliga first team player of all time at Bayer 04 and, in spite of being just 17 years old, has made twelve appearances across all competitions this season. No wonder the market value of this year's winner of the gold Fritz Walter medal (for the U17 age group) has been increased. The website transfermarkt.de recently valued Wirtz at €24 million. The Germany U21 international has therefore more than doubled his market value, which was previously set at €10 million.
Another four Werkself players have also earned an upgrade for their performances: Edmond Tapsoba (+8 to 30 million), Daley Sinkgraven (+2.5 to 7.5 million), Moussa Diaby (+4 to 36 million) and Lucas Alario (+6.5 to 20 million.).
You have decided: Leon Bailey is your Man of the Match for the 4-1 home win against Hapoel Be’er Sheva. The Jamaican, who scored a brace in the game in Israel, made it 2-0 with an assist from Wendell. Congratulations, Leon!
After the Europa League victory against Be’er Sheva, Bayer 04 are back in action in the Bundesliga. Hertha Berlin visit the BayArena on Sunday 29 November (kick-off: 15.30 CET/live on Sky and on Werks11 Radio at bayer04.de plus on the Bayer 04 app). The team from the capital will wear black armbands for this match in memory of former president Heinz Warneke who passed away last Sunday at the age of 89.
The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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Bayer 04 is redesigning the public catering at the BayArena and Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion for the start of the 2026/27 season. Together with new catering partner Aramark, processes will be developed and the service at the stadium will be improved in a targeted way.
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