Ex-national player Karim Bellarabi will leave Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen after eleven seasons. Whether the 33-year-old, who will no longer be able to play for Leverkusen due to injury, will end his career as a professional with the departure from the Europa League semi-finalists is still open.
“If his body plays along and he still gets interesting offers, Bellarabi is considering continuing his career outside of Europe,” said the club’s press release.
“It was a really incredible time for me. I experienced great things and played fantastic games for this club,” said Bellarabi. “Bayer 04 have grown so dear to me that this well-considered step still hurts me very, very much.”
Since 2011 in Leverkusen
The winger, who made eleven international appearances between 2014 and 2016, came to Leverkusen from Eintracht Braunschweig in 2011 and has since played for Bayer throughout, apart from one loan season in 2013/14 at his former club. Bellarabi played 290 competitive games for the Werkself and was involved in 123 goals (57 goals, 66 assists). This season, due to injury, he only made ten short appearances with a total of 103 minutes.