Nearly 10 people were lost at the beginning, Tenghager got a difficult script in Leverkusen

According to ESPN, Leverkusen may have as many as nine first-team main players leaving the team in the summer of 2025, which poses a huge challenge to new coach Eric Tenhager's early season.

Nigerian striker Victor Bonifas is currently in final negotiations with AC Milan on the transfer matter, with the expected transfer fee of €50 million, and the transaction is expected to be completed within this week. Bonifas is determined to leave Leverkusen and seek new developments.

In addition, wing player Amin Adrie is also close to joining Sevilla for 20 million euros. The midfielder core Execchiel Palacios expressed his willingness to transfer to Inter Milan, and the Nerazzurri is ready to pay a transfer fee of about 35 million euros.

Bonifas, Adrie and Palacios are all core players during the coaching period of former coach Xavi Alonso, and are also important contributors to the team's double championships in the 2023-24 Bundesliga and German Cup. With the team losing multiple main players, Tenghager has publicly expressed his hope to retain these three key players on many occasions. However, the Dutch coach encountered difficulties in persuading players to stay in the team.

As of August 21, Leverkusen's main players have reached six: Wilz and Flynnon have transferred to Liverpool, Jonathan Taher joins Bayern Munich, Odiron Kosonu transfers to Atlanta, Granit Zach unexpectedly transfers to Sunderland, goalkeeper and captain Lucas Hradecki also joined Frankfurt as a free agent.

This series of loss of main players has brought severe tests to the team's remaining competitive in the 2025/26 season. On August 23, Leverkusen will usher in the opening match of the first round of the Bundesliga against Dortmund. Tenhager is racing against time and strives to stabilize the team's lineup. If Bonifas, Adrie and Palacios cannot be retained, he will have to carry out a large-scale restructuring of the team and turn to new players such as Ikunsa and Tillman.

Although nearly 200 million euros have been recovered by selling players, Leverkusen's operations in the 2025 summer transfer window are relatively conservative, and has only completed two important signings: signing young central defender Jerer Knssa from Liverpool, and introducing US international Malik Tillman from Eindhoven. If key players continue to be lost, Tenghager's coaching starts will face an extremely difficult situation.