List of Bayer 04 Leverkusen players

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

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		Midfielder/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
Harald Klose		Forward	1968-1969	0	0
Pavle Kiš		Forward	1969-1970	0	0
Burkhard Segler		Midfielder	1970-1972	0	0
Herbert Mühlenberg		Forward	1972-1974	0	0
Gerhard Kentschke		Forward/Midfielder	1973-1977	48	5
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
Jürgen Glowacz		Defender	1979-1982	53	13
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
Wolfgang Patzke		Midfielder/Forward	1983-1986	59	5
Roman Geszlecht		Defender	1983-1985	49	1
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
Stefan Kohn		Forward	1984-1985 1986-1987	18	2
Minas Hantzidis		Midfielder	1985-1988	24	1
Günter Drews		Midfielder	1985-1987	46	1
Peter Zanter		Defender	1985-1988	40	0
Knut Reinhardt		Midfielder	1986–1991	118	5
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
Andrzej Buncol		Midfielder	1987-1992	123	14
Marcus Feinbier		Forward	1987-1992	69	3
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
Manfred Kastl		Forward	1988-1989	26	6
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
Ralf Becker		Midfielder	1993-1995	23	1
Guido Hoffmann		Midfielder	1993	18	2
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
Thomas Dooley		Defender	1994-1995	21	3
Markus Kurth		Forward	1994-1995	2	0
Markus Münch		Defender/Midfielder	1994-1996	57	3
Markus Feldhoff		Forward	1995–1998	77	14
Ramon Menezes		Midfielder	1995-1996	15	1
Sebastian Barnes		Midfielder	1995-1996	0	0
Rodrigo Chagas		Midfielder/Defender	1995-1996	27	1
Sebastian Helbig		Forward	1995-1998	2	0
Daniel Addo		Midfielder	1995-1998	0	0
Thomas Vana		Midfielder	1995	0	0
Pete Marino		Forward	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
Lars Leese		Goalkeeper	1996-1997	0	0
Daniel Schumann		Defender	1996-1997	0	0
Erik Meijer		Forward	1996–1999	84	16
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
Thorsten Nehrbauer		Midfielder	1997-1998	0	0
Dirk Lottner		Midfielder	1997-1998	17	2
Jörg Schmadtke		Goalkeeper	1997-1998	0	0
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
Jörg Reeb		Midfielder/Defender	1998-2001	54	1
Dariush Yazdani		Midfielder	1998-1999	0	0
Adam Ledwoń		Midfielder	1998-1999	10	0
Aaron Mokoena		Midfielder/Defender	1998-1999	0	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
Robson Ponte		Midfielder	1999-2005	79	6
Mirosław Spiżak		Forward	1999-2000	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
Marquinhos		Midfielder	2000-2005	31	6
Tom Starke		Goalkeeper	2000-2006	0	0
Markus Daun		Forward	2000-2001	3	0
Anel Džaka		Midfielder	2000-2003	3	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
Thorsten Burkhardt		Midfielder	2001-2002	0	0
Zoltán Sebescen		Defender/Midfielder	2001-2004	32	3
Hüzeyfe Doğan		Midfielder	2001-2003	0	0
Ioannis Masmanidis	/	Midfielder	2001-2004	14	0
Thomas Kleine		Defender	2001-2003	10	0
Thorsten Wittek		Midfielder	2001-2002	1	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
Emanuel Pogatetz		Defender	2002-2005	0	0
Nasir El Kasmi		Midfielder	2002-2003	0	0
Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker		Defender	2002-2008	36	2
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
Clemens Fritz		Defender/Midfielder	2003-2006	43	2
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
Tranquillo Barnetta		Midfielder	2004-2012	187	23
Sezer Öztürk		Midfielder	2004-2006	7	0
Gonzalo Castro		Midfielder	2005–2015	286	25
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
Athirson		Midfielder/Defender	2005-2007	30	2
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
Karim Haggui		Defender	2006-2009	59	3
Michal Papadopulos		Forward	2006-2008	19	0
Fredrik Stenman		Defender	2006-2007	28	0
Benedikt Fernandez		Goalkeeper	2006-2011	6	0
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
Ricardo Faty		Midfielder	2007	2	0
Marcel Risse		Midfielder	2007-2011	3	0
Atanas Kurdov		Forward	2007-2010	46	14
Patrick Helmes		Forward	2008–2011	57	28
Renato Augusto		Midfielder	2008-2012	101	9
Henrique		Defender	2008-2009	27	0
Constant Djakpa		Defender	2008-2011	9	0
Stefan Reinartz		Midfielder/Defender	2008-2015	145	11
Anderson Bamba		Defender	2008-2010	0	0
Richard Sukuta-Pasu		Forward	2008-2011	4	0
Bastian Oczipka		Defender	2008-2012	9	0
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
Gonzalo Vásquez		Midfielder/Forward	2009-2011	0	0
Burak Kaplan	/	Midfielder	2009-2011	4	2
Lars Bender		Defender/Midfielder	2009-2021	256	22
Fabian Giefer		Goalkeeper	2009-2012	6	0
Eren Derdiyok		Forward	2009-2012 2013-2014	90	25
Sidney Sam		Forward	2010–2014	92	24
Thanos Petsos		Midifielder	2010-2012	1	0
Kevin Kampl		Midfielder	2010-2011 2015-2017	53	4
Nicolai Jørgensen		Forward	2010-2012	10	0
Lucas Rocha		Defender	2010-2012	0	0
Bernd Leno		Goalkeeper	2011–2018	233	0
David Yelldell		Goalkeeper	2011-2016	1	0
Hajime Hosogai		Midfielder/Defender	2011-2013	17	0
Michael Ortega		Midfielder	2011-2013	7	0
Karim Bellarabi		Midfielder	2011-2023	215	34
Ömer Toprak		Defender	2011-2017	154	5
Danny da Costa		Defender	2011-2012	6	0
Vedran Ćorluka		Defender	2012	7	0
Dani Carvajal		Defender	2012-2013	32	1
Niklas Lomb		Goalkeeper	2012-	2	0
Samed Yeşil		Forward	2012	1	0
Junior Fernandes		Forward	2012-2014	6	0
Sebastian Boenisch		Defender	2012-2016	60	3
Okan Aydın		Forward	2012-2013	1	0
Kolja Pusch		Midfielder	2012-2013	0	0
Philipp Wollscheid		Defender	2012-2015	51	2
Julian Riedel		Defender	2012-2013	0	0
Dominik Kohr		Midfielder/Defender	2012-2015 2017-2019	46	1
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
Emir Spahić		Defender	2013-2015	49	3
Robbie Kruse		Forward/Midfielder	2013-2017	21	2
Emre Can		Midfielder/Defender	2013-2014	29	3
Arkadiusz Milik		Forward	2013-2015	6	0
Levin Öztunalı		Midfielder	2013-2016	15	0
Malcolm Cacutalua		Defender	2013-2016	0	0
Jonas Meffert		Midfielder	2013-2014	0	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
Dario Krešić		Goalkeeper	2014-2016	1	0
Josip Drmić		Forward	2014-2015	25	6
Alexander Mühling		Midfielder	2014	0	0
Javier Hernández		Forward	2015-2017	54	28
Jonathan Tah		Defender	2015-	259	12
André Ramalho		Defender	2015-2018	22	0
Benjamin Henrichs		Defender/Midfielder	2015-2018	62	0
Charles Aránguiz		Midfielder	2015-2023	168	10
Marlon Frey		Midfielder	2015-2018	9	0
Admir Mehmedi		Forward	2015-2018	62	7
Patrik Džalto		Forward	2015-2017	0	0
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
Aleksandar Dragović		Defender	2016-2021	71	3
Kevin Volland		Forward	2016-2020	115	44
Andrejs Cigaņiks		Midfielder/Defender	2016-2017	0	0
Leon Bailey		Midfielder	2017-2021	119	28
Lucas Alario		Forward	2017-2022	126	42
Panagiotis Retsos		Defender	2017-2022	31	1
Sven Bender		Defender/Midfielder	2017-2021	107	4
Lukas Hradecky		Goalkeeper	2018-	221	0
Paulinho		Forward/Midfielder	2018-2023	57	8
Isaac Kiese Thelin		Forward	2018-2019	6	0
Tomasz Kucz		Goalkeeper	2018-2019	0	0
Jakub Bednarczyk		Defender	2018-2019	0	0
Adrian Stanilewicz		Midfielder	2018-2020	0	0
Sandra Jessen		Midfielder	2019-2021	34	1
Moussa Diaby		Midfielder	2019-2023	125	31
Daley Sinkgraven		Defender/Midfielder	2019-2023	59	0
Nadiem Amiri		Midfielder	2019-2024	105	8
Kerem Demirbay		Midfielder	2019-2023	108	10
Jan Boller		Defender	2019	0	0
Edmond Tapsoba		Defender	2020-	155	3
Patrik Schick		Forward	2020-	119	62
Florian Wirtz		Midfielder	2020-	138	35
Samed Onur		Midfielder	2020-2021	0	0
Santiago Arias		Defender	2020-2021	1	0
Lennart Grill		Goalkeeper	2020-2023	5	0
Ayman Azhil		Midfielder	2020-2023	1	0
Emrehan Gedikli		Forward	2020-2022	1	0
Exequiel Palacios		Midfielder	2020-	106	11
Cem Türkmen	/	Midfielder	2020-2021	0	0
Andrey Lunyov		Goalkeeper	2021-2023	2	0
Timothy Fosu-Mensah		Defender/Midfielder	2021-2024	23	0
Piero Hincapié		Defender	2021-	113	5
Sadik Fofana		Defender/Midfielder	2021-2025	0	0
Demarai Gray		Midfielder	2021	10	1
Iker Bravo		Forward	2021-2024	1	0
Zidan Sertdemir		Midfielder	2021-2023	3	0
Mitchel Bakker		Defender/Midfielder	2021-2023	53	4
Odilon Kossounou		Defender	2021-	73	1
Jeremie Frimpong		Midfielder/Defender	2021-	133	23
Callum Hudson-Odoi		Midfielder	2022-2023	14	0
Sardar Azmoun		Forward	2022-2024	32	5
Jardell Kanga		Forward	2022-2024	0	0
Adam Hložek		Forward/Midfielder	2022-2024	52	7
Josip Stanišić		Defender	2023-2024	20	3
Gustavo Puerta		Midfielder	2023-	7	0
Noah Mbamba		Midfielder/Defender	2023-	4	0
Matěj Kovář		Goalkeeper	2023-	3	0
Nathan Tella		Midfielder	2023-	49	7
Granit Xhaka		Midfielder	2023-	65	5
Arthur		Defender	2023-	13	0
Victor Boniface		Forward	2023-	42	22
Ayman Aourir		Midfielder	2023-2024	0	0
Ken Izekor		Forward	2023-	0	0
Patrick Pentz		Goalkeeper	2023-2024	0	0
Madi Monamay		Defender	2023-2024	0	0
Álex Grimaldo		Defender	2023-	64	12
Jonas Hofmann		Midfielder	2023-	42	7
Nordi Mukiele		Defender	2024-	8	0
Martin Terrier		Midfielder/Forward	2024-	15	2
Jeanuël Belocian		Defender/Midfielder	2024-	5	0
Borja Iglesias		Forward	2024	7	0
Artem Stepanov		Forward	2024-	0	0
Kerim Alajbegović		Forward	2024-	0	0
Aleix García		Midfielder	2024-	27	3
Alejo Sarco		Forward	2025-	0	0
Emiliano Buendía		Midfielder	2025-	10	2
Mario Hermoso		Defender	2025-	4	2
Mark Flekken		Goalkeeper	2025-	0	0

World Cup players

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)