BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen have snapped up highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from second-division club Hertha Berlin in their first signing for next season.
The 19-year-old Maza, an attacking midfielder, signed a contract through June 2030, the 2024 Bundesliga champion said on Thursday.
Kicker magazine reported the clubs agreed on a transfer fee of around 12 million euros ($13.6 million) for the player.
It promises to be the start of a busy summer at Leverkusen with key players including Jonathan Tan set to leave, uncertainty over the future of star Florian Wirtz, and coach Xabi Alonso expected to leave amid links to former club Real Madrid.
Former Barcelona coach Xavi and Erik ten Hag, who was previously in charge of Manchester United, are reportedly candidates to succeed Alonso, who led unbeaten Leverkusen to a league and cup double last season.
The Berlin-born Maza became Hertha’s most promising youth player after joining the capital club’s junior ranks from local club Reinickendorfer Füchse in 2016.
Hertha were relegated from the Bundesliga in 2023 — Maza scored in the club’s last game in the division — and he became one of the team’s key attacking threats in the second division where the 1.8-meter right-footed player scored five goals and set up five more this season.
“Maza is currently one of the most interesting young attacking players,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said. “Ibrahim suits us and our style of football. He has outstanding technical skills, can dribble past defenders, and he has an eye for his teammates, which he knows how to use brilliantly.”
Maza played for Germany Under-18s through Under-20s before opting to represent Algeria. He turned down previous offers to leave Hertha and extended his contract with the club in August last year to 2027, but Hertha’s financial difficulties meant he was bound to leave sooner rather than later.
“As a Berliner, the greatest thing for me was to become a professional player at Hertha BSC and to be able to wear the (Hertha) flag on my chest in Olympiastadion,” Maza said in a Hertha statement. “I’m grateful now that the club are giving me the chance to take the next step at the highest level in Leverkusen.”
Hertha said they will give Maza “a fitting farewell” before he leaves. There are still three rounds of the second division remaining and Hertha have two games at home.
Bayer Leverkusen sign highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin
https://arab.news/8dhr5
Bayer Leverkusen sign highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin
- The 19-year-old Maza, an attacking midfielder, signed a contract through June 2030
- “Maza is currently one of the most interesting young attacking players,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said
Rhodes leads after second round of PIF Saudi Ladies International
- 2025 LET Rookie of the Year leads in PIF Global Series 2026 opener
- WiMENA panels gather trailblazing women to spark dialogue
RIYADH: England’s Mimi Rhodes backed up a stellar opening in round two of the PIF Saudi Ladies International at Riyadh Golf Club, moving into an outright lead and fending off advances from South Africa’s Casandra Alexander and Chizzy Iwai of Japan.
The 24-year-old, who was the Ladies European Tour’s 2025 Rookie of the Year, posted a score of 69 to move to an overall total of 11-under-par to lead by one.
Another former LET Rookie of the Year, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who now has 12 professional wins, sits one shot further back in tied fourth alongside Japan’s Rio Takeda. Eight players are tied for sixth and England’s Charley Hull lies four back from her compatriot alongside past champion Patty Tavatanakit.
Reflecting on her mindset, and how she has approached the week so far, Rhodes said: “Honestly, I was so excited. Having two months off competitive golf, it’s so long, but I just got back into the swing of things.
“Holing putts is my main goal out there and having the greens rolling really nicely is definitely an advantage for that. I’m just taking it chilled out there and being patient.
“I wasn’t putting too much pressure on myself, but obviously it’s a big event, one of the PIF Global Series, so I wanted to do well, and start with a cut made. I’ve done more than that. I think I can be proud of myself and now (I will) just see what happens. I’m happy.”
The second day of the event highlighted Golf Saudi’s investment in the future of women’s sport with the WiMENA (Women in Middle East and North Africa) panels, which included pioneering Saudi athletes such as Kariman Abuljadayel, the trailblazing sprinter who set a Guinness World Record for the 10 km open water row. Joining her were Razan Al-Ajmi, Saudi Arabia's first female skydiver, members of the Saudi national rugby team and other prominent Olympians and sports figures.
Ameera Marghalani, a pioneering female Saudi rugby national team member, said: “I want to see the support for sports grow exponentially across the country.
“My vision is to see more young girls and women joining the sporting community, not just in major cities but across every corner of Saudi Arabia.”
