Rolfes on Bayer Leverkusen: “The quality of the team has never been so high since 2005”

Winter change possible

Bayer Leverkusen’s executives see the Bundesliga leaders on a promising expansion path. “The stadium is always sold out, the number of members is literally exploding and the quality of the team has never been so high since 2005 – both individually and in terms of the breadth of the squad,” enthused sports director Simon Rolfes in an internal club interview on Wednesday. “Of course the club has always developed over the years. We have reached a new level in many areas. But what’s happening right now is something special.”

This is also underlined by various statistics on Transfermarkt. With a value of 99.0 percent, the BayArena has the seventh highest occupancy rate this season among all Bundesliga clubs. The “Werkself” also reached a new high in terms of squad value. According to the latest update, the Bayer team is now worth 562.55 million euros – which only 13 clubs worldwide can beat. With Florian Wirtz, Leverkusen also has a player in the club of only 15 footballers with a market value of at least 100 million euros.

Fernando Carro gave a similarly positive assessment of the starting position before the Bundesliga restart on January 13th with the game at FC Augsburg. “If we really manage to achieve something big at the end of the season, it can go a long way in helping us reach a new, higher level for years to come. We have all the prerequisites for this – be it the proximity to our fans, the great professionalism in our organization or the quality and determination of everyone who works here,” said the CEO.

After 16 match days, the Leverkusen team lead the table with a four point lead over record champions FC Bayern Munich, who still have to catch up with one game. With 25 competitive games without defeat at the start of the season, the Bayer team has surpassed Hamburger SV’s previous German record from the 1982/83 season. The sporting peak led to an increase in membership numbers to now over 40,000.

Leverkusen’s Rolfes on winter change: “See if there are suitable options”

However, the top sporting position could be in danger because several of successful coach Xabi Alonso’s regular staff will be in action at the Africa Cup of Nations (January 13th to February 11th). Nevertheless, Rolfes currently sees no urgent need to strengthen the squad in the next transfer window in January.

“When putting together the squad last summer, we naturally also took the Africa Cup into consideration, in addition to the triple challenge and the possibility of going far in the cup competitions. We are therefore absolutely confident in the players we have at our disposal. That is beyond question. Nevertheless, we will see in the winter whether there are suitable reinforcement options.”

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