Leverkusen turn to Martinez to replace Hjulmand
Bayer Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez as their new head coach.
The 42-year-old Spaniard has signed a two-year deal at the BayArena after agreeing to succeed Kasper Hjulmand, who stepped in early last season following the short, disastrous reign of Erik ten Hag.
Martinez led Toulouse to a ninth-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season and will be tasked with rebuilding a Leverkusen side that has yet to recover from the departure of Bundesliga-winning coach Xabi Alonso 12 months ago.
The club’s managing director for sport Simon Rolfes said: “We have worked intensively on which coach is best suited for the next phase of Bayer 04’s development. Carles Martínez has successfully developed numerous young players at Toulouse and moulded an international team into a strong unit.
“In addition to this valuable experience, he brings a high level of expertise from his time at the Barcelona youth academy to Leverkusen. Carles is a coach with clear principles and a modern approach to the game. We are convinced he can provide the right impetus for our sporting future.”
Carro convinced Martinez is the right man to take Leverkusen forward
Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro added: “At Bayer 04, we have developed strongly both domestically and in Europe over recent years. Our goal remains to be competitive at the highest level and to further consolidate our position among the leading clubs in Europe.
“We are convinced that Carles Martínez, with his impressive profile as a coach, fits in very well with this ambition. He embodies a modern type of coach who can develop our highly talented team, raise it to a consistently high level and lead it to tangible success.”
Hjulmand took over in September last year after Ten Hag was dismissed two games into the 2025/26 league season but failed to inspire a much-changed squad from that with which Alonso had so much success in the 2023/24 campaign.
Leverkusen opted to dispense with the former Denmark coach after Leverkusen could only manage a sixth-placed finish last season, missing out on a Bundesliga spot.
