“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.
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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