
The players have been back on the pitch together since 8 September. After discussions with Dr Karl-Heinrich Dittmar, medical director and pandemics officer at Bayer 04, and the management at the Kurtekotten Academy, training was moved to the Kurt-Rieß-Anlage pitch to avoid coming into contact with other teams and to maintain the hygiene protocols. A large number of players were back for the first week of training.
The Bayer 04 Veterans have their first game since the enforced break in two weeks time. The Black and Reds are away to the team from the Rhineland Palatinate SG Hoppstädten-Weiersbach in the German Over 40s Cup on Saturday, 3 October. The competition was interrupted in March by the coronavirus pandemic. All clubs still involved in the competition have declared they want to complete the cup by the end of the year while adhering to all the health and safety measures.
The Bayer 04 Over 40s team beat SV 04 Attendorn 1-0 in the first round of the cup last November.


The sustainable use of the BayArena seats removed as part of the current stadium upgrade has taken on a new dimension: Following on from numerous Bayer 04 fans receiving their ‘Undefeated Champions seats’ and various clubs and community organisations from Leverkusen and the wider region having collected the dismantled seats, Blau-Gelbe Kreuz e.V. also made their way to the BayArena recently. The German-Ukrainian aid organisation took away around 2,100 seats; in Ukraine, these will be used to upgrade the sports infrastructure of two clubs.
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Bayer 04 have transferred U19 midfielder Emmanuel Chigozie Owen to FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended youngster Montrell Culbreath's contract once again. Having only signed a deal with the Bundesliga club until 30 June 2030 in January, still as an U19 player, the attacking midfielder, who's since established himself in the first-team squad, has penned a new contract valid until 30 June 2031. Culbreath joined the Werkself academy in 2023 and made 16 first-team appearances in the 2025/26 season in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League, scoring one goal.
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Ecuador international Piero Hincapie, who moved to Arsenal FC on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the 2025/26 season, will join the English champions permanently on 1 July 2026.
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