The DFB conference on educational leadership at German performance centres takes place on Thursday, 17 June. The German Football Association has invited representatives from the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. In addition to Valeria Eckardt of the Sports Psychology Institute at the German Sports University in Cologne, Reiner Fehl will also share his expertise on the subject of supporting parents. Fehl, who has been in the newly created post of parental support at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre since the start of September 2020, will talk about the establishment, implementation and status of the parental support concept at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. Then there will be a discussion on this subject with Fehl as well as Karen Schmithüsen, Bayer 04 media assistant for youth and women. Bayer 04 are considered to be a leader in the area of parental support for youth talents and to date is one of few similar organisations amongst Germany's academies.
From the Performance Centre to the first team: The transfer and market value website transfermarkt.de has published the new figures for the 2020/21 Bundesliga season. Florian Wirtz with a market value of €45 million remains the most valuable player in the Bayer 04 squad – closely followed by Werkself defender Edmond Tapsoba (€40 million) plus our number 19 Moussa Diaby (€38 million). The biggest market value 'winner' in the Werkself ranks after the season-ending on 29 May is Jonathan Tah. The Black and Red defender has increased his abstract financial value by ten per cent from €20 million to €22 million.
As announced today (Friday) by the Chilean football Association (FFC) and the Argentinian Association (AFA), three Werkself players are in the Copa América squads for ‘La Roja’ and ‘Albiceleste’. Both Werkself captain Charles Aránguiz (Chile) as well as Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (both Argentina) have been called up by their national coaches to the final squads for the South American tournament that starts on Sunday, 13 June with the clash between Brazil and Venezuela. We wish our three Werkself players great success.
While the squad planning is running at full speed for the Copa América, the European equivalent of the ‘Copa’ is witnessing ever-increasing interest from the media. As announced last Wednesday, Peter Hyballa will be the TV pundit on the second German TV channel ZDF. In addition to the former Bayer 04 youth and assistant coach, TV viewers will also be able to hear expertise from players with a Black and Red past: Hanno Ballitsch (co-commentator), a Werkself player from 2002 to 2005, plus 2014 World Cup winner Christoph Kramer (TV pundit) will also be working for ZDF. Bayer 04 legend Michael Ballack will be sharing his expert knowledge on the pay-TV channel MagentaTV.
Changes are also being made for matches in the pan-European continental tournament. UEFA will be implementing rule changes, agreed by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in March, for the first time at the European Championship. The focus of the new rules is primarily on adapting the handball rule. In future, unintentional handball in the build-up to goal will no longer be treated automatically as an infringement. Beyond that, intentional contact or the unnatural increase of body size will continue to be treated as handball.
The former club of the new Bayer 04 head coach Gerardo Seoane have found a successor to the 42-year-old. It is a familiar face from a Bundesliga perspective: David Wagner, at the helm at Schalke 04 up to the second matchday of last season, has been brought in for the new campaign at the reigning Swiss champions.
In addition to the Champions League triumph at the end of May, Kai Havertz has another reason to celebrate. The homegrown Leverkusen talent, who joined Chelsea ahead of the 2020/21 season, today celebrates his 22nd birthday. Anybody wanting to follow his development at Leverkusen can see our documentary on YouTube. Another player than with a Kurtekotten and Werkself past is Gonzalo Castro – the midfielder, 34 years old today, made 370 appearances for Bayer 04 in his ten years at the Werkself. Many happy returns, Kai and Gonzalo.
Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Despite a courageous display, the Bayer 04 Women missed out on a surprise at the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 3-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich on Monday night. An early goal from the clinical visitors, a disputed penalty and another spot-kick prevented Leverkusen, who are seventh in the table on 22 points from 14 games, from picking up a point in front of 3,011 spectators at the sold-out Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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The Werkself rang in the Black and Red festive season with an emotional visit to Klinikum Leverkusen. Kristin Kögel, Melissa Friedrich and Louisa Remien from the Bayer 04 Women's team and Jonas Hofmann, Janis Blaswich and Niklas Lomb from the first team visited the young patients on the children's ward and, for the first time, on the ‘Zeitinsel’ children's palliative care unit. They brought a host of lovingly wrapped presents ensuring a big surprise for young and old alike.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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