Erik ten Hag appeals for “four to five new players” in order to rebuild Bayer Leverkusen | OneFootball

Newly appointed Bayer Leverkusen head coach Erik ten Hag has clearly stated that he cannot make do with a 24-man-squad heading into the new Bundesliga campaign. The summer wave of departures from Germany’s red company team leaves Leverkusen ill-equipped to finish in the top-four. Some forthcoming transfers can slash ten Hag’s personnel pool further.

Lukas Hradecky’s soon-to-be-finalized move to Monaco and the possibility that attacker Amine Adli might depart could leave ten Hag with just 22 professionals to build matchday squads. Leverkusen cannot hope to contest league, cup, and Champions League competitions with so few players. Knowing full well that his rebuilding project won’t be easy, ten Hag at least let it be known what he needed from club management.

“One can’t prevent players from leaving in top-level-football,” ten Hag – quoted by Kicker – noted after a Saturday friendly at Leverkusen’s training camp in Rio de Janeiro. “That’s just the way it is. But it’s best if four or five players don’t leave in one transfer window, because then it becomes much more difficult to continue the process.

“All of us are facing a challenge,” ten Hag continued. “The team. The coaching staff. Everyone involved, right up to the board. We will have to build a new era. We know that it will take time to build a completely new team. We will work on that. The initial contours are visible. We now have to build on them. There are still so many weaknesses.

“Four to five players still need to be added in order to achieve our goal of finishing in the top four,” ten Hag concluded. “The transfer window is still open for another month and a lot can happen.“

GGFN | Peter Weis