He certainly deserves it: Patrik Schick is in the vote for the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for December. The Bayer 04 centre forward scored a remarkable eight goals in four Bundesliga matches including the 7-1 victory over SpVgg Greuther Fürth when he became the first Werkself player to score four goals in a match in Germany's top flight. You can vote for Patrik HERE.
In addition to Schick, the other nominees are Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry (both Bayern Munich), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Jesper Lindström (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Nico Schlotterbeck (SC Freiburg).
Florian Wirtz won the Player of the Month award in September.
And the Werkself striker Patrik Schick could also get his hands on the 2021 FIFA Puskas Award in the next few weeks. The 25-year-old is one of three finalists for his goal from 45 yards out in the European Championship match against Scotland on 14 June. Also nominated are the Argentinian forward Erik Lamela (Sevilla) and the Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto).
The trophy is awarded for the most beautiful goal in the calendar year and the winner will be announced in Zurich on 17 January. The current award winner for 2020 is the former Leverkusen player Heung-Min Son who joined Tottenham Hotspur from Bayer 04 in 2015.
The winner is chosen by an international panel consisting of a group of FIFA legends plus fans from across the world registered on FIFA.com. The votes of these two groups carry equal weight.
Patrik Schick has already secured a club award: Werkself fans voted his goal in the 2-2 draw with TSG Hoffenheim in the final home game of the year in 2021 as the Goal of the Month for December presented by like2drive. The Czech Republic striker made it 2-0 on 63 minutes with an impressive header from 12 yards out. Congratulations, Patrik. You can see that goal again here HERE.
After Amine Adli on Monday and Timothy Fosu-Mensah on Tuesday, Piero Hincapie was also on the training ground at the BayArena for the first time this year on Wednesday. The defender returned from his home country of Ecuador yesterday evening after having been forced to self-isolate due to a positive Covid-19 test.
Under the direction of fitness coach Daniel Jouvin, Hincapie completed an individual session along with Adli and Fosu-Mensah. The other Werkself players had Wednesday off after two intensive days of training. The first match of the New Year is on Saturday, 8 January (kick-off: 15.30 CET) against Union Berlin at the BayArena.
Thomas Kleine and second division Fortuna Düsseldorf have mutually agreed the termination of his contract. The former Bayer 04 player, who made 22 appearances for the Werkself as well as 95 for the Black and Red second team, had been the assistant coach at Fortuna since 2017. Kleine’s successor at Düsseldorf is Manfred Stefes. The 54-year-old last worked alongside Lucien Favre at Borussia Dortmund up to December 2020.
The Werkself congratulate Atakan Akkaynak on his 23rd birthday. The Troisdorf-born player of Turkish heritage joined Leverkusen in 2006 from TuS 07 Oberlar. He won the German U17 league title in 2016 and played in all the Black and Red youth teams up to 2018. The midfielder was then signed by the Dutch top-flight club Willem II Tilburg. After spells at Caykur Rizespor in Turkey and Türkgücü Munich, the former U19 international has been playing for Corum FK in the Turkish third division this season. Many happy returns from Bayer 04.
New signing Miguel Gutiérrez arrives in Leverkusen having won the Champions League, the Spanish league title and an Olympic gold medal. However, the 25-year-old Spaniard, signed from Napoli, is looking to the future – he wants to write the next chapter of success with the Werkself. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the skilful, attack-minded left-back, who will wear the number 3 jersey.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day three (Tuesday 4 August) begins with a thorough open session on the pitch. After lunch, some players have media engagements at the team hotel, and then the team come together for a barbecue in the evening.
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Nine matches against teams from nine countries, two penalty shoot-outs won, and encounters that went far beyond football: As with last year, the Inklusionswerkself enjoyed an extraordinary week at the Genuine Cup 2026 in Houston, USA, and made memories that will last a lifetime. This year, the Leverkusen side took part as Germany’s official representatives and, accordingly, took to the pitch in Germany kit. Together with 53 teams from 53 nations, the Black and Reds once again sent a powerful message of inclusion and participation – and also impressed on the pitch by winning their group.
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The Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog, you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme for day two (Monday, 3 August) centres on two training sessions – one in the morning (open to the public) and one in the early evening (behind closed doors) – at the nearby training grounds. In the afternoon, fans can look forward to a big fan meet-up with club legend Paulo Sergio at Schloss Blankenhain.
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