He was presented with his medal by his teammates after the final whistle in the Bundesliga away game at SV Darmstadt 98 (2-0) with a link to the ARD Sportschau. Wirtz spoke to Werkself TV after the presentation of the medal: "I'm really happy to receive this award. It makes me proud. Perhaps I'll add another one at some point."
Head coach Xabi Alonso said in response to a question about the award for Wirtz: "I congratulated him, it was a fantastic goal. He's an exceptional player, a genius in tight spaces. He is still young and he has a lot to look forward to in the future."
Before Wirtz, Bernd Schuster also won the award for Goal of the Year when he was playing for the Werkself. His award-winning goal against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1994 was later voted Goal of the Decade in the 1990s.
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan deal for Jeanuel Belocian to join fellow Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old defender’s contract in Leverkusen runs until 30 June 2029.
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Bayer 04 have recalled Tim Oermann from his loan at Sturm Graz and will now include the centre-back in the team’s plans for the rest of the 2025/26 season. The Germany U21 international signed for the Werkself from Bochum in summer 2025 on a contract until 30 June 2029.
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