For most of the Werkself squad, the coaching staff arranged a recovery session at the gym at the BayArena following yesterday's 7-0 win in the friendly against SV Roßbach/Verscheid. The goalkeeping trio of Ramazan Özcan, Thorsten Kirschbaum and Tomasz Kucz did complete part of the morning session on the pitch – as did Benny Henrichs who did a number of intense sprint dills under the eyes of the head coach and guidance of fitness coach Schahriar Bigdeli. Charles Aránguiz and Paulinho joined in 40 minutes later to work one-to-one with fitness coach Daniel Jouvin. The Brazilian new signing then completed dribbling and shooting drills with assistant coaches Nico Schneck and Xaverv Zembrod.
A visit from a Werkself pro at the Bayer 04 Soccer School holiday camps is a long-established tradition. On Thursday afternoon, the young participants in the '19NULLVIER' lounge at the BayArena had the opportunity to interrogate new signing Mitchell Weiser with a host of questions the children were keen to pose. And the kids discovered the type of car the surprise guest drives, which of the players in Heiko Herrlich's squad he gets on best with, what his favourite food is and whether he spends spare time on the PlayStation game Fortnite. The son of the Bayer 04 youth coach Patrick Weiser was busy answering questions for a good 15 minutes. And there was more to do after that: Following the group photo at the end of the Q. and A., the defender born in Troisdorf was happy to sign autographs and satisfy selfie requests from the 100 kids present.
New signing Paulinho was busy following his arrival from Brazil on Tuesday with being introduced to his new team-mates and the DFL Media Day. The 18-year-old also attracted great interest on Thursday morning with his first appearance on the training ground. And that continued in the afternoon. The young attacking talent faced the press at the BayArena media centre. The new Werkself number seven said he had a number or resolutions. "My first target is to settle in quickly and acclimatise. And then I'd like to win titles," he revealed in a 30-minute session with the media.
Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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A special surprise: during the preview for the 'Fierté Burkinabè' documentary about Edmond Tapsoba, Bayer 04 directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes announced Tapsoba's contract extension until 2031 together with the centre-back. He then spoke to Werkself-TV about his time in Leverkusen so far and future ambitions...
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This evening was deeply moving: At a really special setting, Bayer 04 exclusively presented the specially produced documentary ‘Fierté Burkinabè’ ("Burkinabe Pride") about Edmond Tapsoba on Tuesday. For the preview at the BayArena, the parents of the Werkself player and other close companions travelled all the way from his African homeland Burkina Faso. The 45-minute film shows Tapsoba's extraordinary career from his beginnings in Ouagadougou to Leverkusen as well as the work of his foundation "Fondation Edmond Tapsoba", with representatives from Burkina Faso also present. Fans can watch the documentary free of charge on Werkself TV and YouTube from Wednesday night at 20:00 CEST.
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Bayer 04 have signed left-back Carolin Simon from champions Bayern Munich for the coming season. The 33-year-old former Germany international, who played for Leverkusen from 2013 to 2016, has signed a contract to 30 June 2028.
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Bayer 04 Women have strengthened for the coming season with the signing of Lobke Loone. The 23-year-old Dutch striker joins from Utrecht on a contract until 30 June 2028.
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