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)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin from Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 32-year-old joins the Werkself from the Lower Rhine Bundesliga club on loan to the end of the current season. This is the reaction of Bayer 04 to the injury to first choice keeper Mark Flekken, who faces a long spell on the sidelines.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Jonas Omlin. Bayer 04 have signed the 32-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach until the end of the season. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes described the Swiss shot stopper, signed by the Werkself in reaction to the long-term absence of first choice keeper Mark Flekken, as an "internationally experienced keeper." Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the new signing, who will wear the number 18 jersey.
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Lucas Vázquez was the hero in Saturday's 1-0 home win against Werder Bremen, when the Spaniard scored his first Bundesliga goal to secure an important victory for Leverkusen. The 34-year-old right-sided recently met up with the Werkself magazine for an interview in the Düsseldorf restaurant Casa Galicia after the first few months of settling in to his new home in Germany. Over tapas, the five-time Champions League winner, who left Real Madrid in the summer after 18 years to continue his career at Bayer 04, spoke about his career to date, the new challenge in Leverkusen and the importance of family - and he paid a big compliment to the fans of his new club.
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