Simon Rolfes returns to Bayer 04 as Head of Youth and Development

Rolfes, with his main tasks at Leverkusen including maximising the access of youth players to the first team squad, will report to the new sporting director Jonas Boldt when he takes up his post on 1 July 2018.

"With Simon Rolfes, we have not only brought in a true football expert but also someone with more Bayer 04 DNA in him than almost anybody else. He knows the club inside out," said the future sporting CEO, Rudi Völler, about the famous newcomer. "And that's exactly why Simon is suited down to the ground for this position, which sees us wanting and having to do justice to the ever greater significance of our youth section.  Given the great competition here in NRW (North Rhine Westphalia), it will increasingly be about turning homegrown talented youngsters into established pros for the first team –  as we've recently succeeding in doing with Kai Havertz, Benjamin Henrichs and Dominik Kohr."

Over the past three years since ending his playing career in 2015, Rolfes, who played for Bayer 04 for ten years including seven as captain of the Werkself, managed two companies, worked as a pundit for ZDF and also completed a two-year UEFA course 'Master for international Players' (MIP). "I've continued to focus on football and I've learned to see it from a number of different angles," said Rolfes. "Now I'm looking forward to combining my new experiences with my background as a professional footballer and apply them to working with the youth section, which is one of the most exciting areas in football in my opinion. I'm very much looking forward to the new challenge. In discussions with the Bayer 04 management they gave me the impression from the start that they definitely wanted to have me as part of the sporting management three years after the end of my playing career. And I quickly felt that a positive response to the approach was a matter of the heart for me as Bayer 04 is my club and I'm valued very highly here. I'm sure I can achieve a lot here at Leverkusen."

For CEO Michael Schade, set to leave on 30 June, the signing of the former midfielder is "the logical continuation of a personnel policy we recently used in the case of Stefan Kießling. Having experienced players with a significant part in the history of our club transferring their responsibility and bringing in and using their very special knowledge of Bayer 04 will help us to continue to move forward. There is hardly anybody else identified more with our club than Simon Rolfes or Stefan Kießling," declared Schade.

Fernando Carro, who takes over as chairman of the board on 1 July, has full confidence in the new Head of Youth and Development. "He impressed me very much in a lot of one-to-one meetings with his expertise and clear strategy. Since ending his playing career, Simon Rolfes  has taken a close look at youth development at top international clubs. He's travelled through Europe and spoken to youth directors, managers and presidents at Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Atlétic Bilbao, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven. He has analysed the training of youth teams and the range of approaches to youth development looking at the optimum introduction of talented youngsters into the first team. I can't imagine anybody more suited to his new role at Bayer 04 than Simon," said Carro. "On top of that, there is also his 15- year experience as a pro at the top level."

Rolfes, who earned 26 caps for Germany, will work closely with squad planner and scout Claus Costa. With Helmut Jungheim mainly responsible for coaching at Kurtekotten, Rolfes will primarily focus on the career development of the young players. The 36-year-old will be there as they develop, offer them support as a mentor and also be available to give advice for youngsters including loan players who are temporarily away at other clubs. "Simon will plan the development of our youth players strategically and also work with individual players to help them to develop into established members of our first team squad," said Boldt in explaining the plan "to develop our youth work more professionally and efficiently. I've maintained regular contact with him since he stopped playing and I'm very happy Simon will be working in this area, which is very important to us."