From Borussia Mönchengladbach to Bayer Leverkusen: Transfer of Jonas Hofmann fixed

Borussia confirm fee

On Tuesday evening, the “Kicker” reported the surprising transfer of national player Jonas Hofmann from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Bayer 04 Leverkusen – now the clubs followed suit. As the Europa League participant announced, the 30-year-old winger has signed a contract that runs until 2027. According to Borussia, Hofmann costs 10 million euros, which corresponds to an exit clause in his contract, which was extended a year ago.

“We’ve been dealing with Jonas for a long time and are glad that he decided to join Bayer 04,” said Bayer’s sporting director Simon Rolfes about the 2022 World Cup participant experience, he’s the type of player we were looking for in our squad.”

Hofmann, who can play in Europe with Leverkusen in contrast to Gladbach, emphasized: “I’m very grateful to Borussia for the past seven years. I had an outstanding time there. Recently, however, I had the feeling that I wanted to do something new. Bayer 04 fits in with these thoughts, the club has been one of the top German clubs for years and is always ambitious internationally. The team is exciting and has an unbelievable amount of quality. I’m really excited for this next chapter.”

Hofmann had played 214 games at Borussia since January 2016, scoring 48 goals and providing 51 assists. The native of Heidelberg reached his highest market value of 16 million euros in February 2021. He is by far the most expensive over-30 signing in the history of Leverkusen and also one of the most expensive departures from Gladbach. As a look at the TM database shows, in the history of the Bundesliga only five players in this age group paid higher fees than Hofmann now. Ex-Borusse Granit Xhaka (30; Arsenal) should follow soon and trump him in the ranking.

Jonas Hofmann first Bayer transfer from Gladbach in this millennium

Transfers from Gladbach to Leverkusen are in and of themselves a rarity: not a single player has taken this step in this millennium. Conversely, the “foals” brought five professionals from Leverkusen in the same period, including Christoph Kramer (32) and Oliver Neuville (50). Nevertheless, it must be said that the upheaval at Borussia is turning out to be even harder than might have been assumed. Marcus Thuram (25; Inter), Ramy Bensebaini (28; BVB) and Lars Stindl (34; KSC) left the club on a free transfer, Jordan Beyer (23) switched to Burnley after his loan for 15 million euros.

Gladbach lost all four of their top scorers in the 2022/23 Bundesliga season for a total fee of EUR 10 million. 39 of 52 Bundesliga goals are gone. Nico Elvedi (26) and Florian Neuhaus (26) are also considered not to be for sale if they do not extend their contracts, which expire in 2024.

Hofmann’s Leverkusen transfer leaves Gladbach “not a good feeling”

“We talked intensively to Jonas and fought to keep him at Borussia. The talks were very open and in the end we submitted an offer that met all of the conditions set by Jonas. The fact that he nevertheless decided to activate the exit clause does not leave a good feeling,” said Borussia’s sporting director Roland Virkus. “Nevertheless, we have to respect his decision and say a big thank you to Jonas for his commitment and his achievements for Borussia.”

With the Frenchman Franck Honorat from Stade Brest 29, a suitable successor could already be identified, according to the “kicker”. The 26-year-old has been associated with the “foals” for some time and is under contract with the Ligue 1 club until 2026. In the past three years, Honorat has always contributed more than ten points to the French upper house, with eleven goals and six assists in 2021/22.

rumor
	F Honorat
	right winger
Stade Brest 29 79% Bor. M’gladbach League 1 Bundesliga

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