
The big question of "Ronaldo or Messi?" came straight away at the beginning. However, Mukiele and Lomb quickly agreed on the Argentinian. There were gasps around the room when Mukiele talked about playing with another famous star at Paris Saint-Germain: Kylian Mbappé (now at Real Madrid). Which left the question: "Mbappé or Haaland?“ The Frenchman obviously went for his compatriot.
The pair also revealed who their idols are. For Mukiele, as a defender there was no one better than Sergio Ramos, while Lomb named Manuel Neuer. But on the follow-up question of "Hradecky or Neuer?", the 31-year-old remained faithful to his goalkeeping colleague and Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky.





Talking of team-mates, the curious children were also interested to know which players in the squad the pair get on with best. Lomb answered diplomatically: "The nice thing about is is that we're very harmonious as a team and all get on well with each other. But I spend the most time with Rob [Andrich] and Jonas [Hofmann]." For Mukiele, Jerry [Frimpong] is his closest confidant and also works hard as the DJ in the dressing room, as the 26-year-old revealed.
DJ, footballer... steward: if Mukiele hadn't become a professional footballer, that would've been his dream career, he explained: "I like flying and I like learning lots of new languages, so I can imagine that I would've done that."





In the autograph round that followed, no wish was left unfulfilled. Selfies were taken, shirts and boots signed, and one or two extra questions were answered. Mukiele, for example, spoke to the kids about his hobbies and revealed that he regularly speaks to his mother on the telephone.
A budding young goalkeeper even got some tips from Lomb on positioning. After around an hour, it was onto the next engagement for the Werkself duo. For the kids of the Bayer 04 Football School, there was still a stadium tour, including a viewing of the trophies from the double season, on the schedule.

Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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Following on from the emotional last-minute win at Union Berlin, the Bayer 04 Women now face a promoted team: On Saturday, 31 January (12:00 CET), coach Roberto Pätzold's team welcome FC Nürnberg to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for their first home game of the new year. In their second season in the Bundesliga, the Franconians have impressed with 16 points from the first 15 games.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with Germany U19 international Montrell Culbreath. The attacking midfielder and right winger has penned a deal with the Bundesliga club that runs to 30 June 2030. Culbreath has played for the Werkself as a youth player since 2023. Last December, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Leverkusen first team in the Bayer 04 3-1 away win at RB Leipzig.
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The Werkself's 3-0 victory over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League certainly left many happy faces: Malik Tillman was delighted with his brace, Robert Andrich with the clean sheet and coach Kasper Hjulmand with the "manner" of this significant home win. With an overwhelming superiority and over 75 per cent possession at times, Bayer 04 deserved their place in the UCL play-off round. They will face a familiar foe in February. The Werkself review.
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