“Bayer 04 is a club with an impressive history and ambitious targets," said Xhaka at his signing. The Swiss midfielder played for Arsenal for seven years before moving on to Bayer Leverkusen. This is the fourth club for the 6' 1" central midfielder in his professional career.
Xhaka joined the youth section at FC Basel at the age of eleven and he moved up to the first team squad in the 2010/2011 season. He twice won the league title with the top Swiss club and also made his debut in the Champions League and the Europa League.
He moved to the Bundesliga at the age of 20 with his first experience in a top European league at Borussia Mönchengladbach. He made 140 appearances for the Foals. Four years later, Xhaka followed the call of the Premier League but he never lost contact with German football: "I know the Bundesliga inside out and I always watched it from London."
plenty of expereince en route to Leverkusen
Xhaka made 297 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions. The Swiss player soon established himself as a first choice with the Gunners, as he had done in Mönchengladbach, and he quickly became a key player in central midfield.
Even after seven years in London, Xhaka was still one of the key players in an otherwise young North London side. With 16 goal involvements in the last Premier League season – the best season of his career in that respect – the otherwise more defensively minded 30-year-old made an important contribution to Arsenal finishing runners-up and thereby qualifying for the Champions League again after seven years. The midfield maestro arrives in Leverkusen with plenty of experience.
Over the course of his career, the Swiss midfielder has again and again proved one thing: What it means to accept responsibility. His experience as a leader on the pitch paid off with him being the captain at Borussia Mönchengladbach and Arsenal for three years at each club. Granit has also been captain of the Switzerland team since 2018 and he has the second highest number of international caps for his country with 115 to date.
And Simon Rolfes, Bayer 04 sporting managing director, is aware of Xhaka's qualities: “"His ability on the pitch is well known. But, above all, there are few players who are able to so convincingly lead a team like he does thanks to his outstanding mentality and personality.”
Xhaka is looking forward to the new chapter under the Bayer Cross: "I see Bayer 04 now as a club with a great future. Discussions with the management have been incredibly motivating. Everybody here is ambitious and wants to achieve something.” Exactly as the Swiss infielder does.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen has a new coffee partner. The club has agreed a long-term partnership with the Bocholt-based roastery Imping, running to 30 June 2031. The exclusive partnership with the family-run business includes the installation of fully automatic coffee machines at the BayArena, as well as the right to supply and serve coffee products in the business areas during Werkself home games.
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Plenty going on both on and off the pitch: The Bayer 04 fan support team has organised a number of highlights for fans visiting the Werkself 2026/27 summer training camp in Blankenhain, in the Weimarer Land region. Registration for the events is now open. All the details at a glance.
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The Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team and s2-Software are continuing their long-term partnership: The Werkself and the provider of pre-owned Microsoft licences have extended their contract by two years to 2028. This means s2-Software will remain the Bayer 04 sleeve sponsor for all matches in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga.
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BIOGENA is the new performance partner for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team. Under a partnership initially set to run for three years, the club and the leading Austrian micronutrient company are pooling their expertise in the areas of health, fitness and top-level performance.
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100 children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy had the chance to gain exclusive insights: As part of the summer camp, the young footballers headed inside the BayArena at midday on Tuesday, 21 July, where they were due to meet Werkself keepers Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch in the press conference room. The two players took plenty of time to answer every question from the inquisitive audience – whether it was about their own careers or their first impressions of the new head coach. Finally, there was even time left to sign autographs for the young fans.
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