Can Joins Leverkusen From Bayern

[Folami David]

Germany Under-21 midfielder Emre Can has left European champions Bayern Munich to sign a four-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen, both clubs confirmed on Friday.
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With ten full international midfielders at Bayern, the 19-year-old Can was not guaranteed regular first- team football under Munich's new coach Pep Guardiola and so joins Leverkusen who have qualified directly for next season's Champions League.
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Bayern have an option to buy back Can at the end of his contract.
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"Emre Can is one of the biggest talents in German football," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
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"With this step, we want to make sure he gets enough playing practise, for example like Toni Kroos had at Leverkusen, Philipp Lahm at Stuttgart or David Alaba at Hoffenheim."
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The trio mentioned all spent only a season away from Bayern, while the length of Can's contract implies he will have an extended stay at the Werkself, who finished third in last season's Bundesliga.
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Having made his Bundesliga debut in April, Can spent most of last season playing in Bayern's reserves, so is relishing the prospect of playing Champions League football.
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"Bayer Leverkusen is one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and in addition, they will play in the Champions League, so I want to make my contribution to their success next season," said Can.
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He is their eighth new signing with Leverkusen having recruited the likes of South Korea striker Heung Min Son from Hamburg and Australia's Robbie Kruse from Duesseldorf.
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The Bundesliga season starts next Friday when Bayern host Borussia Moenchengladbach at Munich's Allianz Arena and Leverkusen host Freiburg the following day.