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As the clubs historic era comes to an end, with manager Xabi Alonso likely heading to Real Madrid, its time to look forward to the future for Bayer Leverkusen.
They look set to embark on a new journey under former Ajax and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
With a squad average age of nearly 27 and several key players, like Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz, also linked with a summer move away from the club, its clear that the Leverkusen team will look different next season without Alonso and possibly a few others.
While they may need to reinvest in the squad to replace those who depart, they have a promising crop of players emerging from their youth ranks who could potentially get the opportunity to showcase their abilities, if not next season, then certainly in the near future.
In this Bayer Leverkusen scout report and player analysis, we will highlight five players who were part of their U19 team.
The Leverkusen U19 team fell short of winning the German championship in that age category following a 5-4 loss to Köln in the final at their own BayArena last weekend.
All but one of these players have already received first-team call-ups and matchday squad inclusions under Alonso, proving that the club does indeed hold them in high regard and are part of their future plans.
Ten Hag should consider these growing talents as he plans his Bayer Leverkusen rebuild.
Lets learn more about them.
Andrea Natali Scouting Report
- Age: 17
- Position(s): CB/DM
The first player well look at is Andrea Natali, the only one on our list who wasnt part of the Leverkusen team that were runners-up in last years U17 German championship, having joined on a free transfer from Barcelonas youth academy last summer.
Natali was born in Milan, Italy, and played for his childhood club, AC Milan, until 2020, when he moved abroad to Espanyol.
He spent a year in their academy there before moving across town to Barcelona.
The 2008-born Italian defender spent a couple of years there before deciding to move to Leverkusen in the summer of 2024.
Hes been a mainstay in the German clubs U19 team since.
Natali is 612 (186 cm) and weighs 169 lbs (77 kg).
He primarily operates as a centre-back, although he can also slot into defensive midfield if needed.
Hes a right-footed player who can play on either side of the central defence.
He is physically well-developed and possesses the technical skills to play the ball from the back with confidence.
His passing range is one of his biggest assets, as hes capable of varying his approach depending on whats required of him.
He can play it short to someone nearby to sustain possession or send a long diagonal to pick out a teammate making a run on either side.
The example above is a good illustration of his passing abilities from the U19 German playoff semi-final against Bayern Munich.
Natali starts in the centre of the field, just outside his own box, which is usually where the teams main ball-playing centre-back is placed during the build-up phase.
After exchanging a couple of passes with the players near him, he eventually gets the ball back with time and space to make a decision as Bayerns stand-off rather than pressuring high.
This gives him the room to dictate where he wants the ball to go next.
When he notices the
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