Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be the first Bundesliga club to run a soccer academy in Brazil. A former player will take over as head coach.
As the runners-up announced on Thursday, the “Bayer 04 Football Academy Sao Paulo” will open on July 5 at Bayer AG’s Brazil campus in Sao Paulo. According to the club, the first training sessions have already taken place at the Bayer campus. Initially, 100 children and young people aged between five and 15 will be accepted, with the number of young players then set to rise to over 300. Bayer 04 is thus the first Bundesliga club to launch an academy in South America’s largest country.
The club has a long tradition of Brazilian players in its professional team. Among others, Bayer 04 brought Jorginho, Emerson, Zé Roberto, Lucio, and Renato Augusto to Leverkusen. The academy will also be headed by a former Brazilian Leverkusen professional: Paulo Sergio, now 55, will be responsible for the center. Sergio was born in Sao Paulo and played for Leverkusen from 1993 to 1997. He later played for FC Bayern in the Bundesliga from 1999 to 2002.
In Sao Paulo, Sergio will oversee a team of coaches who will “pass on the playing philosophy of Bayer 04 to young players,” according to the club’s statement. All coaches will complete a training program in Leverkusen for this purpose and will receive regular training.
CEO Fernando Carro described the opening in the club statement as “another milestone in our internationalization strategy.” The aim is to “inspire and nurture the next generation of soccer players and Bayer 04 fans, while strengthening our ties to this soccer-mad country and working closely with our Bayer family in Brazil and Latin America.”
