“We are very happy to have brought in an outstanding goalkeeper. Lukas Hradecky is a brilliant Bundesliga keeper, has great experience as an international and he was one of the absolute top players at Frankfurt. He certainly demonstrated his qualities in the Cup final win,” declared Bayer 04 sporting director Rudi Völler.
For the 36-time international, the move to Bayer 04 is “an important step in my career. Bayer 04 are a top club in the Bundesliga and the team plays attractive, attacking football and regularly feature in Europe,” said Hradecky. “I’d like to continue to develop at this level and I’m sure we can achieve a lot at Leverkusen in the coming years.”
In the eyes of sporting manager Jonas Boldt, Hradecky is, “one of the best keepers in the Bundesliga. On the one hand, he has impressive reflexes and is particularly strong in one-on-ones,” declared Boldt who not only sees the qualities of the Finn with Slovakian roots in his ability to play in goal. “Lukas is a very positive and open person who can take the lead but is also very much a team player. As an experienced and open-minded pro, who speaks several languages including German, he will bring stability to our young team on and off the pitch. We very much looking forward to the next few years with him.”
Hradecky, the third Finnish player at Bayer 04 after Sami Hyypiä and Joel Pohjanpalo, was born in Bratislava on 24 November 1989. Shortly after that, his family moved to the city of Turku in southern Finland. There he spent his early career with the local club Turun Palloseura. After making his professional debut he moved to Denmark. The 1.90 m tall goalkeeper played for Esbjerg fB for three and a half years before moving on to top Danish club Brondby IF the two seasons. There he was spotted by Eintracht Frankfurt and in 2015 he signed for the Hesen club.
In his first season, Hradecky helped keep Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and in the following two campaigns they finished eleventh and eighth. The team coached by Niko Kovac reached the DFB Cup final in 2017 and 2018 – with the 3-1 win against Bayern Munich at the weekend being the high point. In his three years at Frankfurt, Lukas Hradecky only missed one Bundesliga game due to suspension.
At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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At the end of June, Bayer 04 became the first team in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga to begin their pre-season preparations. As well as training sessions at the Kurtekotten facility, the players under coach Roberto Pätzold completed the customary series of performance diagnostics. Werkself-TV presents exclusive insights and player interviews from the first few days after the summer break.
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The German Football League (DFL) has published the full fixture list for the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. Following Bayer 04's previously announced opening match away to newly-promoted SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself's first home match of the new league season is against 1. FC Union Berlin. The 34th and final Bundesliga fixture is on 22 May 2027 at 15:30 CEST away to last season's Bundesliga 2 champions Schalke 04.
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