Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah have moved on, but Bayer Leverkusen have some new kids on the block, ready to rock the Bundesliga in 2025/26 and beyond.
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To say the aforementioned trio were cornerstones of the Leverkusen side that won an unprecedented unbeaten domestic double in 2023/24 and finished Bundesliga runners-up last season is an understatement.
The talismanic Wirtz contributed some 69 goal involvements in all competitions during his final two years at the club, before moving to English Premier League champions Liverpool in June. Frimpong had not long made the switch to Anfield after morphing into one of the game's most effective attacking wing-backs in Leverkusen colours, while Tah left for Bayern Munich as conceivably the most accomplished central defender in German football right now.
Losing three top players in one transfer window is a blow for any club, but Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes is already using the situation to Die Werkself's advantage by initiating a calculated, long-term rebuild.
"The goal is to use the transfer fee from Florian [Wirtz] to build the next title-winning team," Rolfes told German daily SportBild before Leverkusen began pre-season training under double-winning head coach Xabi Alonso's successor, Erik ten Hag. "Our aim is to always be among the top four in the league and to be in a position to win titles. We want to sign players who will help us immediately with their quality and who also have the potential to develop."
Watch: Erik ten Hag's first day at Bayer Leverkusen
To that end, Leverkusen have signed Netherlands international goalkeeper Mark Flekken (32), along with eight players under the age of 25 - five of whom are 20 or younger.
Jarell Quansah is the most high-profile of the bunch, the 22-year-old centre-back having won the 2024/25 Premier League with Liverpool and this summer's UEFA U21 Euros with England. Tellingly, he's inherited Leverkusen's No.4 jersey from Tah.
Senagalese prospect Abdoulaye Faye (20) - fresh from a breakout spell in the Swedish top flight - and Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate Axel Tape (17) could eventually line up alongside Quansah at the heart of the Leverkusen defence, while 21-year-old Tim Oermann - who will spend the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Austria's Sturm Graz - already has the experience of 49 Bundesliga appearances for Bochum under his belt.
Mali youth interntional Issa Traoré will also be added to the mix in the new year, once he's turned 18.
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Further forward, Wirtz's exit has opened the door to the arrival of two versatile attacking midfielders in Malik Tillman and Ibrahima Maza.
Nowadays a fully fledged US international, Tillman came through at Bayern before impressing on loan at Glasgow Rangers and putting his feet firmly under the senior football table at PSV Eindhoven. With 33 goal involvements across back-to-back title-winning seasons with PSV, the 23-year-old certainly has the qualities needed to fill the Wirtz creative void for years to come.
Maza is a similar profile, albeit four years Tillman's junior. The German-Algerian made his professional breakthrough at Bundesliga 2 outfit Hertha Berlin last season, registering five goals and as many assists, whilst ranking high in the league-wide rankings for duels won (sixth) and attempted shots (12th).
Watch: The best of Ibrahim Maza
Speaking of promise, Christian Kofane makes the step up to the Bundesliga after a whirlwind stint in Spain's second tier with Albacete. Initially signed to the youth ranks in November, the 18-year-old soon found himself playing for the first team, scoring eight goals in 20 appearances during the second half of 2024/25. Further progress is a given, playing deputy to seasoned strikers of the ilk of Bayer's Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface.
As it stands, Leverkusen have just five players over the age of 30: three goalkeepers in summer arrival Flekken, club captain Lukáš Hrádecký and Niklas Lomb, plus midfield general Granit Xhaka and Germany's Jonas Hofmann.
The new faces - Bayer also recruited Argentine teen striker Alejo Sarco at the start of 2025 - bring the average age of the squad down considerably, but the melting pot of youth and experience has the potential to meet the club's goal of churning out proverbial liquid gold long into the future.