With a total of 20.8% (52 votes), Havertz narrowly beat the winners from the first half of the season Marco Reus (20%) and Jadon Sancho (14.8%) from league rivals Borussia Dortmund. "Six months ago, the now 20-year-old Leverkusen player was amongst the also-rans but a brilliant second half of the season has seen him overtake the more experienced Dortmund players," was the view of the kicker. Furthermore: "The victory for Havertz and the next generation (Reus was 30 a few days ago making him ten years older) was underlined by his stats: The attacking midfielder and inspirational force in the side netted 11 of his 17 goals in the second half of the season."
Under the heading of 'High flyer of the season', the most successful goalscorer of the Werkself (18%) was in second place behind the 19-year-old Dortmund player Sancho (30.4%) and ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt Luka Jovic (17.6%). "The rise of Havertz, now voted best player, was clearly not primarily associated with the previous season. The Leverkusen player made his league debut at the age of 17 back on 25 October 2016 in the 2-1 defeat at Bremen," declared the kicker.
The Werkself head coach Peter Bosz (5.6%) was the fourth highest response to the kicker request to name the top coach. That puts the 55-year-old behind Adi Hütter (Eintracht Frankfurt, 40.4%), Friedhelm Funkel (Fortuna Düsseldorf, 16.8%) and Florian Kohfeld (Werder Bremen, 12%).
Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Dutch top-flight club Fortuna Sittard in the third pre-season friendly. The match is on Friday, 1 August at the Fortuna Sittard stadium with the kick-off at 19:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to VfL Bochum in the second pre-season friendly. The match is on Sunday, 27 July at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion with the kick-off at 18:00 CEST. Read on for the latest information on ticket sales.
Show more