Promising forward Christian Kofane signs with Bayer Leverkusen after strong start in Europe

German Bundesliga giants Bayer 04 Leverkusen continue to be a welcome home for African talent and 18-year-old Cameroonian striker Christian Michel Kofane is the latest to join after his transfer from Spanish club Albacete was confirmed on Friday.

During his brief stay of one season at Albacete in Spain’s second tier La Liga 2, he displayed all the qualities and physical attributes to suggest that the Douala native is a forward to watch. Kofane signed a four-year contract and joins Bayer for an undisclosed fee.

After spending one season with the youth team of Albacete, Kofane was promoted to the senior side in January and got off to an electric start. He needed less than two minutes to score on his professional debut in a 2-2 draw with Racing Santander on January 11.

From his debut on, Kofane played in every match he was available for, being mostly used as the first option up top for Albacete. Joining the Spanish club after it formed a partnership with Cameroonian club AS Nylon, Kofane scored 8 goals in 20 games during the second half of the 2024-25 season as Albacete finished 10th on the La Liga 2 table.

Kofane has the promising physical profile of a modern striker and is already showing the instincts to be in the right place as well as the necessary composure. It will be interesting to see how Leverkusen develops the young Cameroonian and if they send Kofane out on loan or have immediate plans to utilize him in the upcoming 2025-26 season.