From Son to Havertz: How Leverkusen made nearly 600 million euros from player sales

Bayer Leverkusen has built a reputation as a transfer station to big clubs in recent years. Young, talented players get a chance to play here and then head to one of the big clubs for a large sum. Which players did Bayer sell for the most?

It is also because of this reputation that Bayer chose Patrik Schick and Adam Hložek. The spiky striker and the driving force of the Czech national team scored 24 goals last year, surpassing even Haaland and could have easily moved on, but in the end he signed a new contract in Leverkusen.

Hložek joined Werkself this summer after four seasons at Sparta. The start of the season didn’t find him in good form, just like the whole of Leverkusen. But he will have plenty of time to break through.

And there is definitely a path to the elite through Leverkusen. Let’s take a look at the ten most expensive Werkself transfers.

10. Emerson | €18 million | AS Roma | 2000

The sale of Emerson to AS Roma in 2000 was Bayer Leverkusen’s record sale for almost 13 years.

The club had only paid Gremio €3.5 million for the Brazilian midfielder three years before, so this investment had a really great return.

Emerson had a brilliant career, playing for Roma, Juventus, Milan and Real Madrid among others and winning the Italian and Spanish league titles.

9. Benjamin Henrichs | €20 million | Monaco | 2018

Benjamin Henrichs came through Leverkusen’s youth clubs and after leaving for Monaco in 2018 after three years in the first team, the club received a hefty sum for him.

After two years he returned to the Bundesliga, to Leipzig, initially on loan. Leipzig then bought him out permanently in 2021 for €15 million.

8. Kevin Kampl | €20 million | RB Leipzig | 2017

Kampl is another ex-Leverkusen star who ended up at Leipzig. The Austrian midfielder was also a Leverkusen academy offspring, but left the club for the first time in 2010 looking for more space in the first team.

He worked his way through lower league clubs and played for RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund before returning to Leverkusen in 2015. Two years later, however, he left for Leipzig for €20 million and Bayer made €9 million from his sale.

7. Andre Schurrle | €22 million | Chelsea | 2013

Schurrle is mainly known as the player who assisted Mario Gotze’s winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final. The former German winger joined the Leverkusen club in 2011 from Mainz.

He lasted two years at Bayer, scoring a total of 18 goals and collecting 13 assists. He was soon approached by English giants Chelsea, but didn’t find much success in England. Schurrle surprisingly retired at the age of 29.

6. Hakan Calhanoğlu | €23.3 million | Milan | 2017

Calhanoglu was an extremely talented player who was bought by Bayer from Hamburg. In 2014, the club spent around €15 million for the then 20-year-old direct-kick specialist.

The Turkish international stayed at Leverkusen for three years, scoring 17 goals and adding 18 assists in 79 Bundesliga games before being sold at a profit to Serie A giant AC Milan.

The offensive midfielder then drew attention to himself when he swapped the Rossoneri for arch rivals Inter in 2021.

5. Bernd Leno | €25 million | Arsenal | 2018

Bernd Leno was Bayer’s number one for seven long years. Moreover, he only missed five Bundesliga games from 2011 to 2018.

At the age of 26 in 2018, he decided to move to Arsenal. The Gunners paid a cool €25 million for Leno, who had three decent seasons at Arsenal before losing his number one spot to Aron Ramsdale in 2021. Leno was thus sent to Fulham in the summer.

4. Julian Brandt | €25 million | Dortmund | 2019

Julian Brandt came to Bayer from the youth team of VfL Wolfsburg at the age of 17 for just €500,000.

The technically gifted midfielder developed into a top talent in Leverkusen and became a permanent fixture in the national team.

He spent five-and-a-half years at Bayer, playing 165 Bundesliga games in which he scored 34 goals and added 40 assists. In 2019, he moved to Borussia Dortmund for €25 million.

3. Heung-min Son | €30 million | Tottenham | 2015

Heung-min Son may be rocking the Premier League at the moment, but the South Korean was another player who built a reputation at Bayer Leverkusen.

After great performances at Hamburg, Leverkusen secured the services of the only 20-year-old Son in 2013. The South Korean striker repaid the transfer fee of 12.5 million euros with 21 goals in 62 Bundesliga games for Werkself.

His speed and great finishing began to attract the attention of the best in Europe and he eventually moved to Tottenham in 2015 for €30 million – a handsome profit for a Bundesliga club.

2. Leon Bailey | €32 million | Aston Villa | 2021

In the four and a half years Bailey spent at Bayer Leverkusen, his transfer fee almost doubled. After stints in Austria and Slovakia, Leverkusen bought the Jamaican footballer from Genk for €16.7 million.

The speedy winger quickly made a name for himself at Bayer and was particularly effective in his final season in the Bundesliga, managing 18 goals (9 goals, 9 assists) in 30 games in the 2020/21 season. Aston Villa liked him so much that they spent €32 million on him.

1. Kai Havertz | €80 million | Chelsea | 2020

Kai Havertz is by far Bayer Leverkusen’s most expensive transfer. However, it wasn’t the only record he set at the club.

The product of Leverkusen’s youth academy was the youngest player ever to play 100 games in the Bundesliga. He set this mark at the age of 20 years and 186 days.

He broke into the Leverkusen first team in the 2016/17 season and has only gone up since. In 118 Bundesliga games, he has racked up 36 goals and 25 assists, making the world’s big clubs follow Havertz with interest. He eventually went to Chelsea for an astronomical €80 million.

Incidentally, he scored Chelsea’s winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City.

Source: Transfermarkt