"In your five years in post, you have provided outstanding leadership to the club and achieved great success," said Wenning pointing out the four Champions League campaigns and the updated infrastructure at the BayArena completed under the guidance of Michael Schade, who will continue to have an input in the future with his role on shareholders' committee of Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH.
Over 100 long-term associates of the 65-year-old from the club, Bundesliga, business, culture and politics came together for the farewell event at the Premium Lounge. The guest list included Dr. Reinhard Rauball (president of the German Football League [DFL}), Werner Spinner (president of FC Köln), Peter Peters (director of Schalke 04), Wolfgang Bosbach (former CDU member of the Bundestag), Leverkusen's Mayor Uwe Richrath and Werner Baumann (chairman of the board at Bayer AG).
Fernando Carro, the new chairman of the board, Rudi Völler (managing director sport) and Jonas Boldt (sporting director) were accompanied by the Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich, captain Lars Bender, striker Kevin Volland plus club legends Ulf Kirsten, Simon Rolfes and Stefan Kießling. Also present: actor Jan-Gregor Kremp, musician Arthur Horvath, cabaret artist Wilfried Schmickler, who gave a witty and, as usual, pithy farewell speech in praise of Michael Schade, plus a host of sponsors, partners and journalists.
The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a centre for the development of female talent for the 2026/27 season. The club was awarded that role on 1 January 2026, and this status has now been renewed.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have sold young defender Andrea Natali to AZ Alkmaar on permanent terms. The 18-year-old Italian was on loan at the Dutch club last season, where he mainly played for the reserve team in the second division.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned new signing Luca Erlein to newly promoted FC Energie Cottbus for the 2026/27 season. This will give him the opportunity to play in Bundesliga 2. The club signed the 19-year-old right-back on a permanent basis last week, on a contract to 30 June 2030.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 3-1 victory in the friendly match at Kickers Offenbach...
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It’s always nice having your best friends round for a birthday! Bayer 04 made a guest appearance at Stadion am Bieberer Berg as part of Offenbacher Kickers’ 125th anniversary celebrations, and nearly 1,500 Werkself supporters accepted the invitation to this historic venue, joining the Offenbach crowd in celebrating the more than 45-year friendship between the clubs. On the pitch, the Werkself secured a 3–1 victory in the friendly against the fourth-tier Regionalliga side. The Leverkusen goals were scored by Christian Kofane (38’), Jonas Hofmann (48’) and Afonso Moreira (81’). Keanu Staude had put the hosts ahead in the first half (11’).
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