André Ramalho will join Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, it was announced on Monday.

The Brazilian defender featured under current Leverkusen boss Roger Schmidt at Red Bull Salzburg, and is credited for making the 22-year-old the player he is today. Ramalho's contract expires on June 30th this year, so he'll join die Werkself for costless after that.

His new deal is a sizeable one, lasting until 2019 and the centre-back will be keen to further the success himself and Schmidt had at Salzburg. They earned a league and cup double last term, as well as enjoying a promising Europa League campaign.

Rudi Völler, Leverkusen Sporting Director, had this to say on the deal, "Ramalho is a young, talented and defensive all-rounder, who has already worked with our trainer during two successful years at RB Salzburg.

"He won the Austrian Championship with Roger Schmidt and has drawn attention to himself with very good performances, especially in the UEFA Europa League. He will be able to help us a lot in the new season in our many competitive games with his versatility."

The Westphalian club currently lie in third place, with a tricky tie against Borussia Dortmund to re-open their Bundesliga campaign on January 31st.

Quotes via kicker.

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Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]