Dr Burak Yildirim is ending his time at Leverkusen this summer. The 45-year-old doctor for orthopaedics, emergency surgery and sports medicine will completely focus on his practice in Pulheim in the future. "I'd like to thank all players, management and staff for the years of support and trust. I'm proud to have been part of this great club for so long."
Yildirim came to Bayer 04 in 1996. He started as a youth coach before moving into the section providing commentary for the visually impaired after three years. He became the team doctor in 2013 and has carried out that role for the last ten years.
His successor is Dr Stefan Porten. The 46-year-old is taking over looking after the Bayer 04 first team squad immediately together with Dr Philipp Ehrenstein. Dr Porten was the team doctor for the Germany U20 and U21 teams and for many years and up to 2018 he was the team doctor at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Dr Porten has an orthopaedic surgery in Cologne.
Dr Daniel Lay, previously the team doctor for the Germany Women's U20 team, will look after the medical needs of the Bayer 04 U19 and Women's teams.
Sven Elsinger is returning to the Leverkusen physios. The 55-year-old is taking charge of the first team physiotherapy section, a position he held for 13 years up to 2021. Elsinger recently worked in the youth section at Bayer 04. His deputy is Ill-Han Yun.
Jonas Rath is a new fitness coach at the Werkself. The 43-year-old was the fitness coach at Borussia Mönchengladbach for the last three years. Rath takes over from Schahriar Bigdeli who occupied that role since 2006 after being a long jumper with TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan deal for Jeanuel Belocian to join fellow Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old defender’s contract in Leverkusen runs until 30 June 2029.
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Bayer 04 have recalled Tim Oermann from his loan at Sturm Graz and will now include the centre-back in the team’s plans for the rest of the 2025/26 season. The Germany U21 international signed for the Werkself from Bochum in summer 2025 on a contract until 30 June 2029.
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