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.
Plenty going on both on and off the pitch: The Bayer 04 fan support team has organised a number of highlights for fans visiting the Werkself 2026/27 summer training camp in Blankenhain, in the Weimarer Land region. Registration for the events is now open. All the details at a glance.
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The Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team and s2-Software are continuing their long-term partnership: The Werkself and the provider of pre-owned Microsoft licences have extended their contract by two years to 2028. This means s2-Software will remain the Bayer 04 sleeve sponsor for all matches in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga.
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BIOGENA is the new performance partner for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team. Under a partnership initially set to run for three years, the club and the leading Austrian micronutrient company are pooling their expertise in the areas of health, fitness and top-level performance.
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100 children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy had the chance to gain exclusive insights: As part of the summer camp, the young footballers headed inside the BayArena at midday on Tuesday, 21 July, where they were due to meet Werkself keepers Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch in the press conference room. The two players took plenty of time to answer every question from the inquisitive audience – whether it was about their own careers or their first impressions of the new head coach. Finally, there was even time left to sign autographs for the young fans.
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Following the cancellation of Bayer 04’s scheduled friendly against Carl Zeiss Jena on 1 August, the Werkself have now found a new opponent for the same day and will host Rot-Weiss Essen of the 3. Liga at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Kick-off is at 11:00 CEST and tickets are available now.
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