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.
The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
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