This is a list of notable footballers who have played for Bayer Leverkusen. Generally, this means players that have played a significant amount of first-class matches for the club. Other players who have played an important role for the club can be included, but the reason why they have been included should be added in the 'Notes' column.
For a list of all Bayer Leverkusen players, major or minor, with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Bayer Leverkusen players, and for the current squad see the main Bayer Leverkusen article.
Players are listed according to the date of their first team debut. Appearances and goals are for first-team competitive league matches only; wartime matches are excluded. Substitute appearances included.
Table edit
Player | Nationality | Position | Bayer Leverkusen career | Appearances | Goals | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Karl-Heinz Spikofski | Midfielder | 1950-1952 | 27 | 3 | ||
Udo Lattek | Forward | 1955-1957 | 6 | 2 | ||
Heinz Höher | Mifielder/Forward | 1957-1963 | 155 | 60 | ||
Zvonko Bego | Midfielder | 1960-1969 | 17 | 1 | ||
Uwe Klimaschefski | Forward | 1960-1963 | 25 | 10 | ||
Manfred Manglitz | Goalkeeper | 1961-1963 | 26 | 0 | ||
Werner Görts | Forward | 1962-1965 | 41 | 8 | ||
Werner Biskup | Defender | 1962-1965 | 30 | 3 | ||
Franz-Josef Wolfframm | Midfielder | 1964-1966 | 0 | 0 | ||
Dieter Fern | Forward | 1965-1967 | 4 | 0 | ||
Leo Wilden | Defender | 1966-1969 | 0 | 0 | ||
Zvonko Bego | Midfielder | 1968-1969 | 17 | 1 | ||
Dieter Ferner | Goalkeeper | 1968-1973 | 4 | 0 | ||
Burkhard Segler | Midfielder | 1970-1972 | 0 | 0 | ||
Walter Posner | Defender | 1975-1984 | 274 | 5 | ||
Theodor Rielander | Midfielder | 1975-1978 | 44 | 2 | ||
Dieter Herzog | Midfielder | 1976-1983 | 193 | 29 | ||
Jürgen Gelsdorf | Defender | 1976-1986 | 296 | 26 | ||
Peter Hermann | Forward | 1976-1984 | 215 | 32 | ||
Thomas Hörster | Defender | 1977-1991 | 404 | 26 | ||
Kurt Eigl | Midfielder | 1979-1982 | 39 | 2 | ||
Dietmar Demuth | Defender | 1979-1983 | 92 | 14 | ||
Arne Larsen Økland | Forward | 1980-1983 | 101 | 43 | ||
Mathias Hönerbach | Defender | 1980-1981 | 0 | 0 | ||
Valentin Herr | Goalkeeper | 1980-1982 | 2 | 0 | ||
Christian Sackewitz | Forward | 1981-1982 | 20 | 2 | ||
Jürgen Röber | Forward | 1982–1986 | 105 | 18 | ||
Helmut Winklhofer | Defender | 1982-1985 | 90 | 5 | ||
Rüdiger Vollborn | Goalkeeper | 1982-1999 | 401 | 0 | ||
Herbert Waas | Forward | 1982-1989 | 209 | 72 | ||
Rudolf Wojtowicz | Defender | 1982-1986 | 76 | 2 | ||
Frank Saborowski | Defender | 1982-1984 | 41 | 0 | ||
Cha Bum-kun | Forward | 1983-1989 | 185 | 52 | ||
Ulrich Bittorf | Midfielder | 1983-1984 | 37 | 3 | ||
Dieter Bast | Defender/Midfelder/Forward | 1983-1986 | 71 | 2 | ||
Thomas Zechel | Midfilder/Defender | 1983-1988 | 70 | 6 | ||
Christian Schreier | Midfielder | 1984-1991 | 203 | 63 | ||
Falko Götz | Forward | 1984–1988 | 115 | 26 | ||
Florian Hinterberger | Midfelder | 1984-1990 | 105 | 2 | ||
Anders Giske | Defender | 1984-1985 | 29 | 1 | ||
Alois Reinhardt | Defender | 1984–1991 | 156 | 1 | ||
Knut Reinhardt | Midfielder | 1985–1991 | 118 | 5 | ||
Minas Hantzidis | Midfielder | 1985-1988 | 24 | 1 | ||
Günter Drews | Midfielder | 1985-1987 | 46 | 1 | ||
Wolfgang Rolff | Midfielder | 1986–1989 | 99 | 9 | ||
Jean-Pierre de Keyser | Defender | 1986-1990 | 81 | 1 | ||
Dirk Rehbein | Midfielder | 1986-1988 | 2 | 0 | ||
Bernd Dreher | Goalkeeper | 1986-1990 | 9 | 0 | ||
Jürgen Luginger | Defender | 1986-1987 | 1 | 0 | ||
Christian Hausmann | Midfielder/Forward | 1986-1988 | 56 | 2 | ||
Erich Seckler | Defender | 1987–1992 | 86 | 2 | ||
Tita | Forward | 1987–1988 | 21 | 10 | ||
Ralf Falkenmayer | Midfielder | 1987-1989 | 48 | 7 | ||
Klaus Täuber | Forward | 1987-1989 | 31 | 8 | ||
Marek Leśniak | Forward | 1988–1992 | 119 | 20 | ||
Terje Olsen | Midfielder | 1988-1990 | 1 | 0 | ||
Oliver Pagé | Defender | 1988-1991 | 6 | 1 | ||
Claus-Dieter Wollitz | Midfielder | 1988-1989 | 7 | 0 | ||
Andreas Fischer | Defender | 1989–1994 | 151 | 13 | ||
Jorginho | Defender | 1989–1992 | 87 | 9 | ||
Martin Kree | Defender | 1989–1994 | 156 | 22 | ||
Markus von Ahlen | Midfielder Defender | 1989-1993 | 24 | 1 | ||
Heiko Herrlich | Forward | 1989-1993 | 75 | 6 | ||
Holger Aden | Forward | 1989 | 2 | 0 | ||
Dirk Heinen | Goalkeeper | 1990–1999 | 107 | 0 | ||
Franco Foda | Defender | 1990–1994 | 113 | 10 | ||
Ulf Kirsten | Forward | 1990–2003 | 350 | 182 | ||
Andreas Thom | Forward | 1990–1995 | 161 | 36 | ||
Ioan Lupescu | Midfielder | 1990–1996 | 184 | 4 | ||
René Rydlewicz | Midfielder | 1990-1994
1996-1997 |
28 | 2 | ||
Christian Wörns | Defender | 1991–1998 | 211 | 13 | ||
Markus Happe | Defender | 1991–1999 | 188 | 8 | ||
Stephan Hanke | Midfielder | 1991-1994 | 1 | 0 | ||
Heiko Scholz | Defender | 1992–1995 | 75 | 5 | ||
Pavel Hapal | Midfielder | 1992–1995 | 86 | 13 | ||
Josef Nehl | Midfielder | 1992–1996 | 56 | 5 | ||
Uwe Stöver | Defender | 1992-1993 | 9 | 1 | ||
Mario Tolkmitt | Midfielder | 1992-1996 | 55 | 0 | ||
Paulo Sérgio | Forward | 1993–1997 | 121 | 47 | ||
Bernard Schuiteman | Defender | 1993-1995 | 6 | 0 | ||
Bernd Schuster | Midfielder | 1993–1996 | 59 | 8 | ||
Taifour Diané | Forward | 1993-1995 | 1 | 0 | ||
Hans-Peter Lehnhoff | Midfielder | 1994–2000 | 139 | 11 | ||
Rudi Völler | Forward | 1994–1996 | 62 | 26 | ||
Mike Rietpietsch | Midfielder | 1994-1997 | 22 | 0 | ||
Walter Junghans | Goalkeeper | 1994 | 0 | 0 | ||
Claudio Reyna | Midfielder | 1994-1999 | 26 | 0 | ||
Markus Anfang | Midfielder | 1994-1995 | 0 | 0 | ||
Markus Feldhoff | Forward | 1995–1998 | 77 | 14 | ||
Ramon Menezes | Midfielder | 1995-1996 | 15 | 1 | ||
Sebastian Barnes | Midfielder | 1995-1996 | 0 | 0 | ||
Niko Kovač | Midfielder | 1996–1999 | 77 | 8 | ||
Robert Kovač | Defender | 1996–2001 | 127 | 1 | ||
Manuel Cardoni | Midfielder | 1996-1998 | 1 | 0 | ||
Zé Elias | Midfielder | 1996-1997 | 23 | 0 | ||
Jan Heintze | Defender | 1996-1999 | 87 | 5 | ||
Stefan Beinlich | Midfielder | 1997–2000 | 80 | 24 | ||
Emerson | Midfielder | 1997–2000 | 88 | 11 | ||
Paulo Rink | Forward | 1997–2001 | 88 | 29 | ||
Artyom Bezrodny | Midfielder | 1997-1998 | 0 | 0 | ||
Boris Živković | Defender | 1997-2003 | 144 | 9 | ||
Zé Roberto | Midfielder | 1998–2002 | 113 | 17 | ||
Adam Matysek | Goalkeeper | 1998–2001 | 78 | 0 | ||
Bent Skammelsrud | Midfielder | 1998 | 8 | 0 | ||
Mehdi Pashazadeh | Defender | 1998-1999 | 0 | 0 | ||
Zoran Mamić | Midfielder/Defender | 1998-2000 | 15 | 0 | ||
Thomas Brdarić | Forward | 1999–2003 | 82 | 14 | ||
Oliver Neuville | Forward | 1999–2004 | 165 | 42 | ||
Bernd Schneider | Midfielder | 1999-2009 | 235 | 35 | ||
Frankie Hejduk | Defender/Midfielder | 1999-2003 | 19 | 1 | ||
Vratislav Greško | Defender | 1999-2000 | 15 | 0 | ||
Michael Ballack | Midfielder | 1999-2002
2010-2012 |
35 | 2 | ||
Frank Juric | Goalkeeper | 1999-2004 | 11 | 0 | ||
Torben Hoffmann | Defender | 1999-2000 | 19 | 0 | ||
John Thorrington | Midfielder | 1999-2001 | 0 | 0 | ||
Pascal Zuberbühler | Goalkeeper | 2000-2001 | 14 | 0 | ||
Marko Babić | Midfielder | 2000–2007 | 144 | 13 | ||
Jurica Vranješ | Midfielder | 2000–2003 | 46 | 0 | ||
Pascal Ojigwe | Defender/Midfider | 2000-2003 | 30 | 0 | ||
Landon Donovan | Midfielder/Forward | 2000-2005 | 7 | 0 | ||
Cha Du-ri | Defender/Midfielder | 2000-2002 | 0 | 0 | ||
Ali Mousavi | Forward | 2000 | 0 | 0 | ||
Hans-Jörg Butt | Goalkeeper | 2001-2007 | 191 | 7 | ||
Yıldıray Baştürk | Midfielder | 2001–2004 | 73 | 8 | ||
Lúcio | Defender | 2001-2004 | 92 | 15 | ||
Diego Placente | Defender | 2001-2005 | 123 | 3 | ||
Dimitar Berbatov | Forward | 2001-2006 | 154 | 69 | ||
Joey DiGiamarino | Defender | 2001-2002 | 0 | 0 | ||
Daniel Bierofka | Midfielder | 2002–2005 | 78 | 12 | ||
França | Forward | 2002–2005 | 102 | 29 | ||
Juan | Defender | 2002–2007 | 139 | 10 | ||
Christoph Preuß | Defender/Midfielder | 2002-2003 | 4 | 0 | ||
Jan Šimák | Midfielder | 2002-2003 | 22 | 3 | ||
Daniel Bierofka | Midfielder | 2002-2005 | 78 | 11 | ||
Radosław Kałużny | Defender | 2003–2004 | 12 | 0 | ||
Sebastian Schoof | Forward | 2003 | 7 | 2 | ||
Teddy Lučić | Defender | 2003-2005 | 11 | 0 | ||
Džemal Berberović | Defender | 2003-2005 | 0 | 0 | ||
Cris | Defender | 2003 | 2 | 0 | ||
Paul Freier | Midfielder | 2004–2008 | 111 | 17 | ||
Jacek Krzynówek | Midfielder | 2004–2006 | 52 | 9 | ||
Andriy Voronin | Forward | 2004–2007 | 92 | 32 | ||
Jermaine Jones | Midfielder | 2004-2005 | 5 | 0 | ||
Paul Freier | Midfielder | 2004-2008 | 112 | 17 | ||
Roque Júnior | Defender | 2004-2007 | 35 | 0 | ||
Gonzalo Castro | Midfielder | 2005–2015 | 220 | 18 | ||
Ahmed Reda Madouni | Defender | 2005-2007 | 29 | 3 | ||
Simon Rolfes | Midfielder | 2005-2015 | 288 | 41 | ||
Danko Lazović | Forward | 2005 | 9 | 0 | ||
Josip Tadić | Forward | 2005-2006 | 1 | 0 | ||
Stefan Kießling | Forward | 2006–2018 | 344 | 131 | ||
Pirmin Schwegler | Midfielder | 2006–2009 | 46 | 0 | ||
Assimiou Touré | Defender | 2006-2010 | 2 | 0 | ||
Sergej Barbarez | Forward | 2006-2008 | 61 | 11 | ||
Manuel Friedrich | Defender | 2007–2013 | 147 | 11 | ||
Theofanis Gekas | Forward | 2007–2010 | 50 | 13 | ||
Arturo Vidal | Midfielder | 2007–2011 | 117 | 15 | ||
Michal Kadlec | Defender | 2007–2013 | 128 | 8 | ||
Dmitri Bulykin | Forward | 2007-2008 | 15 | 2 | ||
Hans Sarpei | Defender | 2007-2010 | 42 | 0 | ||
Patrick Helmes | Forward | 2008–2011 | 57 | 28 | ||
Renato Augusto | Midfielder | 2008-2012 | 101 | 9 | ||
Toni Kroos | Midfielder | 2009–2010 | 43 | 10 | ||
Daniel Schwaab | Defender | 2009–2013 | 96 | 0 | ||
Sami Hyypiä | Defender | 2009-2011 | 53 | 3 | ||
Gábor Király | Goalkeeper | 2009 | 0 | 0 | ||
Angelos Charisteas | Forward | 2009 | 13 | 1 | ||
Tomasz Bobel | Goalkeeper | 2009-2011 | 0 | 0 | ||
Sidney Sam | Forward | 2010–2014 | 92 | 24 | ||
Thanos Petsos | Midifielder | 2010-2012 | 1 | 0 | ||
Kevin Kampl | Midfielder | 2010-2011
2015-2017 |
53 | 4 | ||
Bernd Leno | Goalkeeper | 2011–2018 | 233 | 0 | ||
David Yelldell | Goalkeeper | 2011-2016 | 1 | 0 | ||
Vedran Ćorluka | Defender | 2012 | 7 | 0 | ||
Dani Carvajal | Defender | 2012-2013 | 32 | 1 | ||
Niklas Lomb | Goalkeeper | 2012- | 2 | 0 | ||
Heung Min Son | Forward | 2013–2015 | 62 | 21 | ||
Kostas Stafylidis | Midfielder/Defender | 2013-2015 | 1 | 0 | ||
Roberto Hilbert | Defender/Midifielder | 2013-2017 | 58 | 1 | ||
Andrés Palop | Goalkeeper | 2013-2014 | 0 | 0 | ||
Giulio Donati | Defender | 2013-2016 | 43 | 0 | ||
Julian Brandt | Midfielder | 2014–2019 | 165 | 34 | ||
Hakan Çalhanoğlu | Midfielder | 2014-2017 | 79 | 17 | ||
Vladlen Yurchenko | Midfielder | 2014-2018 | 13 | 1 | ||
Kyriakos Papadopoulos | Defender | 2014-2015
2015-2017 |
16 | 0 | ||
Ryu Seung-woo | Forward | 2014
2014-2017 |
0 | 0 | ||
Wendell | Defender | 2014-2021 | 186 | 7 | ||
Tin Jedvaj | Defender | 2014-2015
2015-2021 |
72 | 1 | ||
Javier Hernández | Forward | 2015-2017 | 54 | 28 | ||
Jonathan Tah | Defender | 2015- | 257 | 12 | ||
Kai Havertz | Midfielder | 2016–2020 | 118 | 36 | ||
Julian Baumgartlinger | Midfielder | 2016-2022 | 115 | 5 | ||
Ramazan Özcan | Goalkeeper | 2016-2020 | 3 | 0 | ||
Joel Pohjanpalo | Forward | 2016-2022 | 23 | 7 | ||
Joel Abu Hanna | Defender | 2016-2017 | 0 | 0 | ||
Leon Bailey | Midfielder | 2017-2021 | 119 | 28 | ||
Lucas Alario | Forward | 2017-2022 | 126 | 42 | ||
Lukas Hradecky | Goalkeeper | 2018- | 192 | 0 | ||
Paulinho | Forward/Midfielder | 2018-2023 | 57 | 8 | ||
Isaac Kiese Thelin | Forward | 2018-2019 | 6 | 0 |
World Cup players edit
The following players have been selected by their country for the FIFA World Cup finals, while playing for Bayer Leverkusen.
- Cha Bum-kun (1986)
- Jorginho (1990)
- Ioan Lupescu (1994)
- Paulo Sérgio (1994)
- Emerson (1998)
- Jan Heintze (1998)
- Christian Wörns (1998)
- Ulf Kirsten (1994, 1998)
- Lúcio (2002)
- Yıldıray Baştürk (2002)
- Frankie Hejduk (2002)
- Carsten Ramelow (2002)
- Oliver Neuville (2002)
- Michael Ballack (2002)
- Hans-Jörg Butt (2002)
- Diego Placente (2002)
- Boris Živković (2002)
- Jurica Vranješ (2002)
- Jens Nowotny (2006)
- Bernd Schneider (2002, 2006)
- Jacek Krzynówek (2006)
- Fredrik Stenman (2006)
- Juan (2006)
- Marko Babić (2006)
- Assimiou Touré (2006)
- Andriy Voronin (2006)
- Stefan Kießling (2010)
- Toni Kroos (2010)
- Hans Sarpei (2010)
- Arturo Vidal (2010)
- Tranquillo Barnetta (2006, 2010)
- Eren Derdiyok (2010)
- Andrés Guardado (2014)
- Emir Spahić (2014)
- Son Heung-min (2014)
- Tin Jedvaj (2018)
- Julian Brandt (2018)
- Piero Hincapié (2022)
- Jeremie Frimpong (2022)
- Sardar Azmoun (2022)
- Exequiel Palacios (2022)
- Kai Havertz (2022)