Voller signs Leverkusen contract extension

Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller has signed a new six-year deal at the club.

Leverkusen have confirmed that the 56-year-old has signed a contract until June 2022, a five-year extension to his previous deal which was due to expire at the end of 2016-17.

“We want consistency and continuity in the management of Bayer 04,” board chairman Werner Wenning said to the club’s official website.

“With the contract extensions of CEO Michael Shade, sporting director Rudi Voller and head coach Roger Schmidt, those conditions have been created.”

Voller himself said: “I’ve been connected intermittently with the club for more than 20 years and I feel very happy in this role. We’ve achieved a lot in this time and I’m looking forward to the further challenges.”

A World Cup-winner with Germany in 1990, Voller joined Leverkusen from Marseille in 1994 before retiring to take up the sporting director role two years later.

He returned to the position in 2005 after four years away as head coach of Germany and Roma.

CEO Schade said: “I’m looking forward to further excellent co-operation with our sporting director, who, as a skilled person, has regularly been courted but has always had a clear commitment to Bayer 04.

“He and his team have made the positive sporting development of recent years possible, through their clever transfer policy and outstanding scouting work.”

Leverkusen finished third in the Bundesliga last season, behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.