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·21 juillet 2025
Patrik Schick on Bayer Leverkusen’s goals for this season: We’ll try to be competitive. We want to finish in the top four.”

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·21 juillet 2025
Speaking to kicker, Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick as spoke about the club’s aims for this season, how they will deal with the absence of Florian Wirtz and if he and Victor Boniface can play together.
It is clear that Leverkusen have gone through a transition this summer following the departures of Xabi Alonso, Jonathan Tah, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong so far. The arrival of Erik ten Hag as head coach also means their goals for this season will be different.
After the upheaval this summer, Schick was asked about Leverkusen’s goals this season and said:
“Of course, we’ll try to be competitive. We want to finish in the top four. That’s our goal.”
One area that Leverkusen will greatly miss will be the absence of Wirtz in their attack. Last season, die Werkself were very reliant on the 22-year-old to create most of their chances. Leverkusen’s team was notably different when the Köln native wasn’t there. On how, when he expected him to leave, and how they will deal with his absence, Schick said:
“Honestly, it’s only been a matter of time for me for a while now. He’s an exceptional player who can make any team better. In my opinion, he was ready for the next step a year ago, and now he’s taken it. I think it would be a mistake if we tried to replace him one-for-one. This type of player isn’t easily replaceable. We have to find other ways to compensate for this loss and compete at the highest level without Flo.”
One way of mitigating Wirtz’s absence is to play Schick alongside Victor Boniface, something that rarely happened under Alonso, but when it did, it was successful, as seen with Leverkusen’s 4-3 win against Stuttgart at the backend of last season. On partnering with the Nigerian, Schick said:
“Let’s see. Unfortunately, we haven’t played together much in the last few months. Especially last season, I think we should have played together more often. I can imagine him up front. We have different skills, and the combination could work well.”
This is a sentiment that Boniface shared in an interview with Bild:
“Do you remember our 4-3 win in Stuttgart? We played together and had one of the best games of the season. Patrik is a very good friend. We push each other every day. When I’m not playing, I know Patrik is there – and vice versa. That’s how it should be. Every coach has his own ideas. In Belgium, I often played at striker or on the flank, and I did that in Leverkusen, too.”
What is clear is that Leverkusen will be an interesting team to watch this season, not only due to how Erik ten Hag will play, but also how their new signings will play.
GGFN | Jack Meenan