Guéla Doué to Bayer Leverkusen
Strasbourg sell for €30m fee

1. 1 Sept
   Deal announced

   Bayer Leverkusen officially confirmed the signing of Guéla Doué from Strasbourg on a five-year contract.
2. 31 Aug
   Medical completed

   Strasbourg authorised Doué to travel to Germany to complete his medical and sign the paperwork.
3. 29 Aug
   Leverkusen close in

   German football media reported Leverkusen accelerating a deal for Doué as part of a squad rebuild targeting right-back.

Bayer Leverkusen have completed the signing of Strasbourg right-back Guéla Doué for an initial fee of €30m, with the Ivory Coast international putting pen to paper on a five-year contract.

Bayer Leverkusen have signed Ivory Coast international Guéla Doué from Strasbourg, the Bundesliga club announced on 1 September 2026. The right-back has signed a five-year contract running to June 2031 and will wear the number 20 shirt. Leverkusen are paying an initial fee of €30m, with add-ons that could push the total package as high as €37.5m according to reporting from Fabrizio Romano and French and German outlets covering the deal. Strasbourg had reportedly been looking for closer to €40m, while Leverkusen wanted to keep the package nearer €30m, and the eventual figure landed between the two positions.

Leverkusen moved for Doué because right-back was one of the few positions in their squad without an established first-choice option. The 35-year-old Lucas Vázquez had been their most senior specialist there, with Arthur, Tim Oermann and Jarell Quansah all able to cover the role without fully convincing head coach Carlos Martínez Novell. Doué offers something different: a full-back comfortable pushing forward and combining in the final third as well as defending his flank, which suits how Martínez wants his wing-backs to influence games rather than simply sit deep. Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes said the club had strengthened themselves excellently at right-back with the signing, calling Doué a high-class addition who fits the squad extremely well.

For Strasbourg, it is the loss of a player who had become one of their most important defenders since joining from Rennes for around €6m in 2024. Across two seasons in Alsace, Doué made 69 competitive appearances and contributed three goals and nine assists. The sale represents a significant profit on that outlay, money the Ligue 1 club can reinvest, but manager and supporters lose a full-back who had established himself as a regular starter.

Doué's form through the second half of last season pointed to a player at the top of his game. He started 23 of Strasbourg's 24 Ligue 1 matches in 2025-26, scoring twice and setting up six goals in the league, and was still playing every minute as the campaign wound down, featuring the full 90 in a 5-4 win over Monaco on 17 May. He then went to the 2026 World Cup with Ivory Coast and played in all four of their matches at the tournament, underlining the level he was performing at when Leverkusen made their move.

At Leverkusen, Doué arrives as part of a broader squad rebuild this summer that has already seen roughly €100m committed to incoming players, funded in part by departures such as Exequiel Palacios's permanent move to Ipswich Town and loan exits for Ernest Poku and Axel Tape. He is expected to compete directly with Vázquez for the right-back spot, giving Martínez a more attack-minded option at full-back than the club had available before this deal.

The move was finalised quickly once personal terms were sorted. Doué travelled to Germany to complete a medical and sign his contract before the announcement, having already given his approval to join once Leverkusen's project was put to him. He said he had enjoyed two good years in France with Strasbourg but wanted to test himself in the Bundesliga with a club he had been impressed by during talks, and that he was looking forward to playing alongside a talented Leverkusen squad.

• Announced by the clubs100

A sourcing score, not a chance of completion: it grades how solid the reporting behind the move is. The stage and the evidence come from the sources listed below; the arithmetic is fixed in code, the same for every deal.

• Official | Bayer Leverkusen bring Cote d'Ivoire international Guéla Doué to the Bundesliga
• Bayer Leverkusen close in on Guéla Doué as late window squad clearout accelerates
• Guéla Doué to Bayer Leverkusen: €37.5m Agreement Reached
• Bayer Leverkusen to sign Strasbourg full-back Guéla Doué in €37,5m deal
• Guela Doué 25/26 Season Stats - Strasbourg