There is a big upheaval in Leverkusen this summer, which will affect players in all categories, from top performers to permanent reserves. Managing director Simon Rolfes explains the background and gives the dissatisfied Bayer pros a clear signal.
Simon Rolfes is busy working on the right team for the coming season.
IMAGO/Chai v Laage
The core of the team should be scratched as little as possible when the squad is redesigned. Although Rolfes admits that this is not entirely unavoidable. “It’s not the goal to sell a lot of pillar players. When we’ve met our financial targets, that strengthens our position,” explains the managing director, with a view to a transfer surplus that Bayer has to achieve to make up for the lack of income from the Champions League to compensate.
It helps that by winning the Leipzig Cup, 6th place is not only enough for the Conference League. “It’s clear that we sometimes have to sell one of the better players, but we still want to keep as many of them together as possible. Of course, the Europa League income and the fact that we’re playing Europa League again helped us to on the outgoing side, which we don’t want but inevitably have to do less,” says Rolfes.
Diaby and Frimpong could bring in 100 million
Still, Bayer will have to record a big deal on the exit side. Jeremie Frimpong and Moussa Diaby are the candidates as their contracts expire in 2025 and an extension is not available. In order to achieve their market value, which is around 100 million euros in the package, the club would have to sell them this summer.
“It is clear that these are two players who, like a few others of ours, are on the list at many clubs,” says Rolfes, “but there is nothing concrete at the moment.” That should change when the transfer market in England takes off.
With the upheaval, Rolfes wants to give the squad a new face. In addition to the six professionals, whose contracts expire at the end of June (“There is none among them with whom we wanted to extend”), the players in particular should make up the squad restructuring, which has not played such a big role lately.
“We want to set a stimulus at one point or another, reignite the competition, where one or the other finds himself in the role of not putting more pressure on the starting eleven,” explains the 41-year-old, “these players have sometimes even the desire to change.”
It’s about the players who play less. These players have an interest in leaving.
And Rolfes expressly emphasizes this again. “It’s about the players who play less. These players have an interest in leaving. They should have that too. If not, I would always find that questionable as a footballer,” he sends a clear signal to the dissatisfied, “if one doesn’t we’re not the right club for that moment in his career either. There will always be players like that and there will be movement.”
Demirbay before farewell
An announcement that applies to permanent reserves like Timothy Fosu-Mensah, but also to record-breaking Kerem Demirbay. The midfielder only got three chances in the last seven games of the season and had these three starting XI appearances primarily thanks to the injury-related loss of leading player Robert Andrich (metatarsal fracture).
But Demirbay should no longer need this hint with the fence post. The technician wanted to leave Leverkusen on loan towards Hertha BSC in winter. But at that time Bayer put in a veto due to the otherwise lack of alternatives. Now that Bayer want to sign another direct competitor for Demirbay in Granit Xhaka (30) from Arsenal, this will no longer be the case.
2023-06-11 09:53:39
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