Stars under the Cross

Next year is the 120th birthday for Bayer 04. We would like to take this opportunity, today and in the next few months, to regularly look at football under the Cross on bayer04.de and primarily delve into the question of: How have we become the club we are today? Part one of our series looks at our stars under the Cross. A lot of pros have developed into outstanding players of world renown at Bayer 04 and many arrived in Leverkusen with illustrious reputations.

A star? Er? No, Exequiel Palacios would never have thought of calling himself a star. Values such as humility and modesty are important to the practising Christian. Star is a big word. Nevertheless, the definition in the good old Duden dictionary applies to the Argentinian of course. A star is "somebody who has achieved fame in a certain area." And 'Pala' is famous at the latest since winning the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar. The 25-year-old is the second player in the history of Bayer 04 to win the World Cup as a Werkself player – Lucio achieved that with Brazil in 2002.

Argentina lifted the World Cup trophy ten months ago. "Now begins the most difficult part after achieving the biggest thing a footballer can win," Palacios said immediately on his return to Leverkusen. And: "The experiences from the World Cup are still incredibly vivid. I try to put them to one side and focus on the day-to-day. On the other hand, I also want to use the euphoria to achieve the club's targets." The current season shows: The central midfielder has brilliantly achieved both to date.

World cup winners on and off the pitch

Palacios, now under the Cross for almost four years, is in outstanding form. He has developed into a world-class player at Leverkusen. He has played in every Bundesliga match this term, including ten starts, scored two goals, provided two fantastic assists with his typical crisp passes and in the kicker rankings of top players he is currently in eighth place. He is closely followed by his Werkself team-mate Granit Xhaka, his partner in holding midfield. The new signing from Arsenal is also an outstanding footballer. A leader and link player with plenty of experience who has won several trophies with Arsenal and FC Basel. He and Exequiel Palacios are probably the strongest duo in central midfield in the Bundesliga at the moment.

A position where Bayer 04 head coach Xabi Alonso also became a world star. "It's an honour to be compared with Xabi," said Xhaka, "he was always a player you looked up to." Alonso, who won everything there was to win as a player, a World Cup winner and twice a European Championships winner with Spain, won countless titles with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and now he is performing highly successful work as the coach Werkself and has played a big part in creating a euphoric atmosphere under the Cross.

Florian Wirtz also makes a crucial contribution on the pitch. The 25-year-old mega talent has developed into one of the best attacking midfielders in Germany and a Germany international during his time in Leverkusen. Last year, the Pulheim-born player extended his contract at Bayer 04 to 2027. "Florian is a special player. He has great sporting significance for our club," said Simon Rolfes, sporting managing director. And Wirtz really feels at home in this strong squad: "It's incredible being with the lads. There's a lot to offer in us and in this club. I'm keen to fight for titles."

attraction not only in europe

The level of attraction of Bayer 04 outside Europe and South America is demonstrated by the African players Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast) and Victor Boniface (Nigeria). As international players, the three have enormously increased recognition of the Werkself in their home countries. In Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa by far with over 200 million inhabitants, nearly everybody knows Bayer 04, said Boniface. The centre-forward and new signing from Union St. Gilloise has won over the hearts of Werkself fans with his ten goals and six assists in 14 games and his way of playing football. Tapsoba and Kossounou are, like Jonathan Tah, regular starters in Xabi Alonso's back three. In addition to Tah, the players on the wings Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo plus midfielder Palacios and the forwards Florian Wirtz und Victor Boniface are currently among the ten top-rated players in the Bundesliga. Bayer 04 have not had such a depth in strength in the squad for a long time.

The club has been the home to highly talented players for decades. Moussa Diaby, homegrown Kai Havertz, Julian Brandt and Toni Kroos are the best examples from the recent past. All four developed into an exceptional players at Leverkusen. Heung-min Son (2013-2015) and Chicharito (2015-2017) are legends in South Korea and Mexico respectively and, during their time under the Cross, they succeeded in boosting the popularity of Bayer 04 in their home countries.

the first Star in Leverkusen

Looking back further into the club's history, Dieter Herzog was the first star at Bayer 04 when he joined Leverkusen as a World Cup winner in 1976 from Fortuna Düsseldorf and went on to gain promotion to the Bundesliga with the Black and Reds. Shortly after Herzog played his final league game for the Werkself in 1983, Bayer 04 signed the first international top player, the South Korean Bum-kun Cha. Alongside Tita, the first Brazilian player with the Werkself, the duo won the UEFA Cup in 1988. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, club boss Reiner Calmund secured a coup by signing the former East Germany internationals Ulf Kirsten and Andreas Thom. The signing of world stars Bernd Schuster (1993) and Rudi Völler (1994) not only enormously increased the attendances at Leverkusen. The club also gained popularity in Germany and Europe.

Völler, World Cup winner of 1990, was actively involved in numerous transfers of big players for many years as sporting director and managing director at Bayer 04. Many of them only became stars after coming to Leverkusen. That not only says a lot about the outstanding work of the scouting section but also the professional and performance-enhancing infrastructure at the club. Jens Nowotny, Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider, Oliver Neuville, the Brazilians Paulo Sergio, Emerson, Zé Roberto, Lucio and Juan, the Argentinian Diego Placente and the Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov – Talented players, performers and grafters who made their names in Leverkusen.

renowned management

The same applies to Simon Rolfes. As a player, he made 288 Bundesliga appearances for Leverkusen and was a runner-up in the European Championships with Germany in 2008. Today Rolfes is sporting managing director and one of the main managers of the club, running business after Rudi Völler stepped down and he is also responsible for building the current squad – together with the CEO Fernando Carro. The former top striker Stefan Kießling, who scored 131 goals in 344 league games for Bayer 04 in 12 years, is now a club representative for Bayer 04. Of course, not to be forgotten is Rüdiger Vollborn, the record player at the Black and Reds with 401 Bundesliga appearances. The former keeper is the only Werkself player to win a European trophy and the DFB-Pokal with the club and he has remained loyal for over 40 years now in the role of club archivist and historian. They all stand for Bayer 04 not just being a launching pad for young talent but it can also be a long-term sporting home.

And ambitious players from the current squad like Florian Wirtz, Edmond Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong and Exequiel Palacios have agreed long-term contract extensions under the Cross. And that is not only because they feel at home here. They want to achieve great things with Bayer 04. "I am now a South American champion and World Cup winner with Argentina," said Palacios. "It's clear I also want to win trophies here at Bayer 04." Best of all in this so far promising season.