Bayer 04 Leverkusen continues to be active in the transfer market. Now an experienced defensive player has joined the team.

Lucas Vazquez has won the Champions League five times with Real Madrid. Will he add a sixth title? Unlikely, because he has signed a two-year contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The “Werkself” presented Vazquez, whose contract with Real Madrid has expired, on Tuesday, August 26. The 34-year-old is expected to play right back.“In Lucas Vázquez, we are signing an extremely experienced player who has won everything there is to win with Real Madrid over the past ten years,” emphasized Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes.

He added: “He is technically strong, tactically savvy, an excellent playmaker and strategist. Lucas will have a major influence on our game with his footballing sophistication and special routine and will become a mainstay of our team,” said Rolfes.

The 1.73-meter-tall Vázquez was a key player for Los Blancos in the 2024/25 season, making 53 competitive appearances for Real, 32 of them in LaLiga and ten in the Champions League. The nine-time international has played a total of 402 competitive games for the world-famous club, with whom he has celebrated 23 titles in his career.

“Now I’m looking forward to continuing my journey at Bayer Leverkusen, the club that coach Xabi Alonso and my long-time teammate Dani Carvajal told me so much about in Madrid,” said Vázquez, who was officially bid farewell by Real Madrid as “one of the great legends of our club” after the Club World Cup in the USA.“My conversations with the club’s management have confirmed what I had been told: Bayer 04 is absolutely focused on winning, hungry and aiming for the highest goals. This attitude is in line with my own ideas and I am looking forward to striving for further success with Leverkusen,” he continued. In Leverkusen, Vazquez will wear the number 21 jersey.