German Bundesliga outfit Bayer 04 Leverkusen have announced that teenage midfielder Francis Onyeka has put pen to paper on a new three-year contract extension.
The dethroned top-flight champions confirmed the development via the team’s official X account on social media, “Francis Onyeka has extended his contract until 2028. The youngster will now spend the 2025/26 season on loan at VfL Bochum! All the best Francis.”
The Gummersbach-born player will subsequently continue his development at German second-tier side VfL Bochum in the 2025/2026 Bundesliga 2 campaign, in a bid to secure regular first-team football and garner enough experience ahead of his return next year. The new deal would keep the youngster at the Bay Arena until the summer of the 2027/2028 season.
He is already familiar with the Vonovia Ruhrstadion, homeground of Bochum, having been an unused substitute in Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw against in November 2024.
Onyeka made 29 appearances across all competitions last season for Leverkusen, including being handed senior debuts in both the UEFA Champions League and the DFB-Pokal by the now-departed gaffer Xabi Alonso.
He also featured in the final of the German U-19 Championship with Leverkusen, where he led the team as skipper and scored a goal though they ended up losing 5-4 to their FC Koln contemporaries.
In total, Onyeka scored nine goals from his midfield position and assisted on three occasions in 27 youth fixtures, which amounted to 2,313 minutes of action.
Onyeka, who is eligible to represent Nigeria’s Super Eagles through his father, has played for his country of birth, Germany at the U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18 categories. He previously started his youth career at SC Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind, before he was recruited by Leverkusen in the summer of 2014.