They are definitely two of the key players in the team under head coach Gerardo Seoane this season: Playmaker Florian Wirtz and central defender Odilon Kossounou, who joined Leverkusen from FC Brugge in the summer of 2021.
The ability to win the ball, positional play, ball control, build-up play – the Ivory Coast international has quickly impressed at the age of just 21. His performance at the top Belgian club from Bruges plus those in a Bayer 04 shirt have earned Kossounou a place in the list of the last 40 players for the Golden Boy 2021. And he is not alone from a Black and Red perspective.
The second Werkself player in this illustrious selection is Florian Wirtz who is three years younger than his teammate and is currently causing a stir in the Bundesliga. After five matchdays, the 18-year-old has already scored three goals and provided four assists. The youngest full international in the history of Bayer 04 has more than deserved his place on the shortlist. There will be a further reduction in the list of nominations in the middle of October.
There is also good news in terms of statistics: The Werkself have made their best start to the season since 2013/14 and are the most efficient team in the Bundesliga after five matchdays. The outstanding finishing of Patrik Schick and Co. is most clearly evident looking at the xGoals, they are the goals to be expected based on the number of shots at goal and their quality. According to the xGoal calculation, the Werkself should have scored eight goals to date – but there have already been 15. No other Bundesliga side has a higher efficiency.
Two attacking players are mainly responsible for this top value: Florian Wirtz and Moussa Diaby. Wirtz has scored three goals to date, his xGoal value is however 0.7. Diaby has also scored three times and has a rating of 0.8. With the exception of Dortmund's Erling Haaland, no other Bundesliga players are more efficient.
Moussa Diaby (22), Odilon Kossounou (21), Florian Wirtz (18): They are all in the early stages of their careers. The three are however not the only ones in the Werkself squad that this statement applies to. The kicker sports paper has calculated from the first five matchdays that Bayer 04 have the second youngest team in the Bundesliga so far this term. With an average age of 24.9 years, the Werkself are just behind VfB Stuttgart (24.8)..
It's full steam ahead with preparations at the Fan House: The second fan jumble sale at the BayArena is round the corner. On Saturday, 9 October, it will be possible to acquire a wide range of Bayer 04 merchandise from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon. The special element: All proceeds go to the Leverkusen community foundation. The first gems can be checked out on the Bayer 04 fan info Facebook page.
"There will be items where you can place an offer at a certain point in time and then hope your bid is accepted," explained Sebastian Friedrich from the Bayer 04 fan liaison team. Access to the jumble sale is only possible via the North West entrance to the BayArena by the flyover.
Jan-Inge Callsen-Bracker wore the Bayer 04 shirt for ten years and the Schleswig-Holstein-born player with the unusual name made his first team debut in Leverkusen in 2003. He ended his playing career 16 years later at FC Augsburg and then took up a position on the FCA supervisory board. Callsen-Bracker is now the director of development at the German Football Association (DFB) and the former Leverkusen player today celebrates his 37th birthday – many happy returns.
Manfred Kastl also used to play for the Werkself (1988/89) and his birthday is on 23 September too. He is 56 years old. Happy birthday.
Assistant coach Remzi Kahraman is leaving the Bayer 04 Women’s team with immediate effect to take up a new challenge abroad. The club has agreed to the 31-year-old’s request to leave, although his contract was originally due to run until 2027. A decision on his successor will be announced shortly.
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At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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At the end of June, Bayer 04 became the first team in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga to begin their pre-season preparations. As well as training sessions at the Kurtekotten facility, the players under coach Roberto Pätzold completed the customary series of performance diagnostics. Werkself-TV presents exclusive insights and player interviews from the first few days after the summer break.
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