“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.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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