The greeting was in Hebrew, the question in English: The Israeli journalists gave Peter Bosz a very warm welcome to his former home in a digital press conference. The Dutchman is well known to the local press from his six months as the coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2016.
“I’m very happy to be here again. It was a great time even though it was so short’” said Bosz. The 56-year-old was the Maccabi coach for two games against Be’er Sheva – both ended in draws (1-1, 0-0). “There’s not many of the players left from back then,” said Bosz.
With Nadiem Amiri, the interest from the journalists from Germany and Israel primarily focused on the high intensity workload for the Werkself players with a run of double-fixture weeks. We’ve delivered after the international break and won everything with the exception of the slip-up in Prague,” said the 24-year-old. During that period there have been four wins and the narrow 1-0 defeat against Slavia Prague. “And that defeat did not not dent our confidence.” Above all else, after last weekend’s 4-2 win against Freiburg, where Amiri scored an impressive goal to make it 3-2, the Werkself “came here with a good feeling. And we want to take all three points.”
Bosz explained the need for rotation during a run of fixtures within a short space of time but did not specify how many or which players this might involve. “The fact is: The best eleven players will be on the pitch to win this game.”

The Golden Boy Top 100 traditionally lists Europe’s most promising young players. In the latest update, published to mark the start of the new season, four current Werkself players – alongside loanee Francis Onyeka – feature on the list. This means Bayer 04 have the most players in contention of any Bundesliga club.
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Goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe will continue to play for Bayer 04 Leverkusen next season. The loan of the Germany U23 international, who joined from Liverpool in the winter, has been extended by a further year.
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The Bayer 04 delegation, led by Fernando Carro, CEO, concluded their multi-day trip to Brazil with a visit to the community-based organisation Bola Pra Frente in Rio de Janeiro – founded by former Werkself player Jorginho. During the visit, Bayer 04 committed to extending support for the Bola Pra Frente project for a further five years. In addition, Jorginho, a member of the Brazil 1994 World Cup-winning squad, was named Bayer 04’s second official club legend. With the visit to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the club has strengthened the relationships built up over the years in one of Bayer 04’s most important international markets.
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Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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