Patrik Schick was Leverkusen's top scorer in the last 12 months with 23 goals, as well as contesting the most duels of any Werkself player (213). He was previously shortlisted for the 2024 Team of the Year. In May he was selected for the 2024/25 Bundesliga Team of the Season.
Alejandro Grimaldo, who was also included in the Team of the Season in May, was the only Bundesliga player to make it into the 2024 Team of the Year. He also finished 2025 with strong performances: he was the Werkself's top provider with nine assists and the second-highest goalscorer after Schick (10 goals).
Meanwhile, Vanessa Fudalla becomes the second Bayer 04 Women player after Kristin Kögel last year to ever be nominated for the Women's Team of the Year, which is only being awarded for the third time. Fudalla, who only moved to Leverkusen from RB Leipzig in the summer, topped the scoring chart for the team in 2025 with nine goals.
The large pool of nominees from across the world will eventually be whittled down to a Men's and Women's Team of the Year. Both line-ups will comprise one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards. As usual, a 12th TOTY card will also be selected in both and EA Sports will give other players TOTY cards as 'Honourable Mentions'.
Voting is open until Monday 12 January at 18:59 CET. The final TOTY teams will be officially revealed on 15 January at 19:00 CET and will also be available in EA Sports FC 26 from 19:00 CET on 16 January.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Rieden reloaded: Just like last year, the Bayer 04 Women’s team are spending their summer training camp in this idyllic corner of Bavaria. From this Sunday, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team will be based in Rieden in the Upper Palatinate for a week.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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