Bayer Leverkusen will be the first Bundesliga club to open, and operate a football academy in Brazil.
| Paulo Sergio, former player of Bayer Leverkusen | Christof Koepsel/Getty images |
The academy will be run by club legend Paulo Sergio and built on the Bayer Brazil campus in Sao Paulo, with space for up to 300 children between the ages of five and 15.
With the academy set to open on July 5th, Sergio said that: “Bayer Leverkusen is the perfect club in Europe for young talents who dream of becoming top players. Integration and training are core values of the club. I came to Leverkusen as a young player, and what I experienced there turned me into a top player and world champion.”
The former Leverkusen forward made 121 appearances for die Werkself between the years between the years of 1993 and 1997.
Also speaking on the opening of the academy, Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said that: “The opening of our own football academy in Brazil is another milestone in our internationalisation strategy.”
“Bayer 04 and Brazil have had a very special connection for a long time. With the Bayer 04 football academy in Sao Paulo, we plan to inspire and support the next generation of footballers and Bayer 04 fans, while strengthening our ties with this football-loving country and working closely with our Bayer family in Brazil and Latin America.”
