Wirtz and Retsos will not join national squads
In agreement with Bayer 04 and their national associations, Florian Wirtz and Panos Retsos will not be involved in international fixtures this week.
Germany coach Stefan Kuntz selected Wirtz for the Germany U21 squad for the first time for the Euro qualifiers against Moldova on 3 September and Belgium on 8 September. In agreement with Bayer 04 head coach Peter Bosz, Kuntz will now manage without the 17-year-old.
"Of course, we have important games in September. Nevertheless, we look at each individual player to decide what's best for his current situation and further development. We would have been very happy to have Florian Wirtz with us. But that doesn't make sense at the moment with the break after the Europa League tournament. He first needs to have a decent pre-season before his first U21 internationals," explained the Germany coach.
In the case of Panos Retsos, who should be joining the Greece U21 squad for the two Euro qualifiers against the Czech Republic and San Marino, Bayer 04 and the Greek FA have both agreed that Retsos should complete the pre-season ahead of the 2020/21 campaign with the Werkself and miss out on the internationals.
Related News
Women - 23.12.2025
Women: Home derby on a Friday night - matchdays 16 - 19 scheduled
Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
Show more
Werkself-TV - 22.12.2025
Werkself bring festive cheer to Leverkusen hospital
The Werkself rang in the Black and Red festive season with an emotional visit to Klinikum Leverkusen. Kristin Kögel, Melissa Friedrich and Louisa Remien from the Bayer 04 Women's team and Jonas Hofmann, Janis Blaswich and Niklas Lomb from the first team visited the young patients on the children's ward and, for the first time, on the ‘Zeitinsel’ children's palliative care unit. They brought a host of lovingly wrapped presents ensuring a big surprise for young and old alike.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 22.12.2025
AFCON blog: Morocco with Ben Seghir kick off with a win - trio start on Christmas Eve
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
Show more
Women - 21.12.2025
Bayer 04 Women ‘can’t just sit back’ against leaders Bayern
Bayer 04 Women finish 2025 with the first game of the second half of the Google Pixel Bundesliga season as they host defending champions and league leaders Bayern Munich at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Monday. Kick-off is at 18:00 CET. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 14 encounter.
Show more
