
Simon Rolfes, the sporting managing director at Bayer 04, assesses Tapsoba's contract extension as "absolutely showing the way forward for our team and our club. Edmond is one of the best central defenders in the Bundesliga, he definitely has the potential to make it to the top on the international stage," declared Rolfes. "This contract extension sends out a signal for us. We have ambitious targets at Leverkusen that we want to achieve with great players like Edmond Tapsoba. His quality on the pitch combined with his enormous ease and calm make Edmond a top player and a key member of our squad."

Tapsoba sees the contract extension as "a commitment to a club I have built up a very emotional connection to since my arrival in January 2020. The environment at Leverkusen is special for me," emphasised the 1.94 metre tall right-footer. "The support from the fans for the team is fantastic, our squad gets better year by year and I'm absolutely convinced I have the best conditions at Bayer 04 for a successful future."

Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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 personal 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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