Merino Gonzalez, who signed her first professional contract in January 2023, has been with the Werkself since 2017 and U13 level. She was top scorer as Bayer 04 won the U17 Bundesliga in 2022/23 and has since made 49 senior appearances (two goals). The 18-year-old forward has started four out of six Bundesliga games this season as a full-back.
The fact that one of our own, who’s come through all our youth teams, has won this award is nice proof of our youth work and great acknowledgement for everyone who’s been involved in this development,” said Bayer 04 Women’s sporting director Achim Feifel. “At the same time, it’s also an incentive to us to further professionalise our youth section so we can continue to grow players like her in the future.”
The U19s golden medal went to Alara Sehitler of Bayern Munich, with bronze to Meppen’s Thea Farwick. Merino Gonzalez’s teammate Loreen Bender and Francis Onyeka of the men’s team, who is currently on loan at Bochum, had both won gold in the U19s and U17s categories respectively last year.
Leverkusen’s Fritz Walter Medal winners:
2025: Estrella Merino Gonzalez (U19/silver)
2024: Francis Onyeka (U17/gold), Loreen Bender (U19/gold)
2022: Florian Wirtz (U19/gold), Lisanne Gräwe (U19/gold), Clara Fröhlich (U17/gold)
2020: Florian Wirtz (U17/gold)
2018: Kai Havertz (U19/gold)
2016: Benjamin Henrichs (U19/gold), Kai Havertz (U17/silver), Nina Ehegötz (gold)
2015: Jonathan Tah (U19/gold)
2014: Julian Brandt (U18/gold); Levin Öztunali (U18/silver)
2013: Dominik Kohr (U19/bronze)
2012: Dominik Kohr (U18/bronze)
2011: Johanna Elsig (gold)
2010: Kolja Pusch (U17/bronze)
2008: Marcel Risse (U19/bronze); Richard Sukuta-Pasu (U18/bronze)
2007: Stefan Reinartz (U18/bronze); Nils Teixeira (U17/bronze)
The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
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Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
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