The Bayer Necessity: Malik Tillman at Bayer Leverkusen

Doesn't factor in. The buy-back "matching" clause isn't about personal terms, it's just about the transfer price. Bayern had allegedly set the buy-back amount at ~€30m, Leverkusen made an offer for €40m, once PSV accepted their bid, Bayern had the option to match Leverkusen's bid and buy Tillman back for €40m. It sounds like they're not interested in doing that. But if they had tried to invoke that clause, they would have had to negotiate personal terms with Tillman before the full transfer could occur.

As for pre-negotiated personal terms... *TECHNICALLY* no representative from Leverkusen is allowed to negotiate with Tillman until they have an agreement in place with PSV. *FUNCTIONALLY*, no one is watching these deals too carefully, and "tapping up" a player without their club's consent is an open secret. Once under a blue moon, someone will get caught (ex: Ashley Cole in 2006), but the punishments are never football related, always monetary (in this case, the FA fined Cole, Jose Mourinho, their lawyers, and a few other lawyers who worked for Chelsea).

 

Yup, don't get it why they put it in.

 

"As of 22:53 German time, this had not yet happened."

I mean... yeah... the German window doesn't open until midnight (00:00), July 1.

 

Because it's not a lot different to a loan. While the clubs can agree to anything, if the player doesn't want to go someplace, nothing will happen but it does give the club with the option some leverage.

At the very least the player's camp will have to listen to what they're offering and give a considered answer.

 

Leverkeusen preseason. Maybe they let Malik rest for a bit instead of going to Brazil?

• Return to training: TBC
• Training camps/tour: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (14-24 July)
• Friendly matches: 18 July vs. Flamengo U20s (8pm), 27 July vs. Bochum (6pm), 1 August vs. Fortuna Sittard (7pm), 5 August vs. TBC, 8 August vs. Chelsea (8pm)
• First fixture: DFB Cup vs. Sonnenhof Großaspach (15 August, 6pm)

 

I think he is supposed to get 2 weeks off?

 

Jo wtf Deutscher Meister 25/26 pic.twitter.com/j8FhsVeZgH

— Mario (@mario_1196) July 8, 2025

 

That lineup says we are in the middle of the silly season!

 

Tillman the Pillman

 

Malik Tillman will undergo his Bayer Leverkusen medical in the United States today.

[@JeroenKapteijns, @telegraaf] pic.twitter.com/b5vY9BFjLf

— WerkselfXtra (@bayer04Xtra) July 10, 2025

Malik Tillman will undergo his Bayer Leverkusen medical in the United States today.

The Malik Tillman deal is set to be completed on Friday. His PSV teammate Johan Bakayoko, who'd cost around €25m, is on Bayer Leverkusen's list as well and they have good chances to sign him.

 

If he had a hyphenated last name and played in the Championship last year he would have cost more than what they’re paying for him. I think this may end up being one of the best deals of the transfer season.

 

At €25m, he's a steal but if Bayer can get away with it more power to them.

 

A new era in 7️⃣Shirt winnen? 📷 https://t.co/dj7QGIsU7K pic.twitter.com/Tphy4ATWUN

— PSV (@PSV) July 11, 2025

PSV new signing Van Bommel takes Tillman’s 7

PSV geeft plankgas op de transfermarkt en is zeker nog niet uitgeraced. Round-uppen. Zie: https://t.co/ynvZxUtKzd https://t.co/ynvZxUtKzd

— Rik Elfrink (@RikElfrink) July 11, 2025

PSV looking at Hamer/Mijnans as offensive reinforcements for the departure of Tillman/Lang

 

I see Lang is off to Napoli - good for him, I've enjoyed following him since his Jong Ajax days (with Dest/Mendez). Injuries slowed him down, of course.

Maybe @feyenoordsoccerfan has kept track of where all of those players have gone. Gravenberch (Liverpool!), the Timbers, Ekkelenkamp, Mazraoui, etc. A ton of young talent together in one place at the same time, practices must have been amazing - steel sharpening steel.

 

Malik Tillman's transfer to Bayer Leverkusen is expected to be made official on Saturday.

[@Plettigoal, @SkySportDE] pic.twitter.com/cdSgjTkBHM

— WerkselfXtra (@bayer04Xtra) July 11, 2025

Malik Tillman's transfer to Bayer Leverkusen is expected to be made official on Saturday.

 

Let's do this! 👋🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Ki8XpktDTa

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) July 12, 2025

Malik Tillman joins from @PSV on a deal until 2030!
Welcome to the Werkself, Malik!

 

Simon Rolfes: "With Malik Tillman, we have gained another strong player and very dangerous offensive force. He can play in various positions in midfield, including the number 10 and number 8 positions. Malik is an absolute top transfer for us. His style fits perfectly with Bayer… pic.twitter.com/N62UzoBawq

— WerkselfXtra (@bayer04Xtra) July 12, 2025

Simon Rolfes: "With Malik Tillman, we have gained another strong player and very dangerous offensive force. He can play in various positions in midfield, including the number 10 and number 8 positions. Malik is an absolute top transfer for us. His style fits perfectly with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Malik's dynamism will give our offensive play a whole new boost."

 

Aspirin to prove his Wirtz! Malik Tillman at Bayer 04 Leverkusen


I apologize.

 

Bayer Leverkusen were aware of the fact that several teams, including some from the Premier League, were seriously looking at Malik Tillman in recent months. In particular, Tillman's forceful nature of making runs from midfield and into the penalty area caught Leverkusen's eye,… pic.twitter.com/Jsvuu9xElO

— WerkselfXtra (@bayer04Xtra) July 12, 2025

Bayer Leverkusen were aware of the fact that several teams, including some from the Premier League, were seriously looking at Malik Tillman in recent months. In particular, Tillman's forceful nature of making runs from midfield and into the penalty area caught Leverkusen's eye, but he is not the kind of smooth technician who can move effortlessly between the lines and in tight areas. Hence, the Werkself are still looking to add a more technical and possibly smaller attacking midfielder to their squad.

 

We got a Bayer! Tillman at Leverkusen

 

Wow. This was the most expensive transfer for Leverkusen in their club history (according to Kicker) at 35MM €. I look forward to seeing Malik in the Bundesliga, I think he is going to need to keep improving to really succeed. But, with him being their most expensive transfer ever he should get plenty of rope to play with to prove himself.

https://www.kicker.de/fuer-rekordsumme-leverkusen-holt-tillman-aus-eindhoven-1126478/artikel

 

Clearly they haven't looked at the USN&A board where he is rated between a useful sub and crap.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6486104/2025/07/12/malik-tillman-leverkusen-transfer-usmnt/

Malik Tillman and why Bayer Leverkusen have signed the USMNT midfielder

Leverkusen have long been convinced.

They identified the German-born 23-year-old to lead their rebuild under Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman has replaced Xabi Alonso as head coach after the Spaniard’s departure this summer for the Real Madrid job, which was followed by the loss of three key players. Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool and Jonathan Tah moved to Bayern Munich.

It is not the case that Tillman is intended as a like-for-like replacement for Wirtz, who went to Anfield for £100million ($135.9m) in guaranteed fees, with a potential £16m more in add-ons. Instead, he is intended to add goals and creativity to a new team being built by former Ajax and Manchester United manager Ten Hag.