Amine Adli leaves Bayer Leverkusen future open in interview | OneFootball

In an interview with L’Équipe Bayer Leverkusen attacker Amine Adli has left his future with his Bundesliga club open. The 25-year-old Moroccan international cited the many personnel changes at Leverkusen this summer as the main reason he’s pondering a move. Adli has enjoyed immense success since joining Germany’s red company team from Toulouse in the summer of 2021.

The period of transition Leverkusen presently find themselves in nevertheless gives Adli pause. As of the loss of head coach Xabi Alonso wasn’t enough, die Werkself have also seen most of their star players depart ahead of next season. Adli specifically referenced the big names in his interview. Adli also had plenty of words to offer up on the coach that saw him through his recent injury problems and kept faith in him.

“The departures of [Florian] Wirtz, [Jonathan] Tah, and [Jeremie] Frimpong signal the beginning of a new era,” Adli said. “I was very close to the three of them in the locker room. I was with them the whole time.

“Bayer is an extraordinary club, but after four years and so many emotions, I think it’s normal to ask yourself questions about your future,” Adli continued. “Should I leave and discover something new? It’s legitimate to ask yourself these questions, especially when you’re starting a new cycle.”

“It was “a very difficult farewell because he changed everything here,” Adli said of Xabi’s move to Real Madrid. “We had a historic season [undefeated in the league during the 2023/24 double-winning campaign]. Thanks to him, we have all gone down in history.

“He helped me improve in countless ways: my game, my thinking, my positioning, the importance of a player for the team,” Adli also said of Alonso. “He helped me mature, and I am eternally grateful to him for that. We had a very good relationship.”

Adli did have some positives to report about newly installed Leverkusen had catch Erik ten Hag, with whom he’s had a little time to get to know. Adli didn’t shy away from making a direct appeal to the Dutchman when it came to his future tactical deployment.

“Everyone knows him as he has coached some very big clubs,” Adli said of ten Hag. “He has an attacking style of play and promotes young players enormously. I think his profile fits perfectly with Bayer’s orientation.

“What matters to me is how I’m used on the pitch,” Adli concluded. “I want to play in my position again, whether that’s on the right or as a deep-lying striker. I want to feel freedom, responsibility, rhythm, and trust. I need to find all that again.”

Since ten Hag prefers to play with inverted wingers in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, Adli’s could see this request fulfilled in either tactical constellation.

Adli could also served as a ten or short-striker behind big-target forwards such as Patrik Schick or Victor Boniface.

GGFN | Peter Weis