Julian Brandt Extends Bayer Leverkusen Contract Until 2021

Bayer Leverkusen star Julian Brandt has extended his contract with the club until 2021. 

News that new terms had been agreed came via Leverkusen's official Twitter account on Wednesday:

DW Sports relayed some of what the 21-year-old had to say:

"The recent contract extensions of Jonathan Tah and Lars Bender have shown that [the club are growing]," he added, per Reuters (h/t Eurosport). "We want to win titles."

With his previous deal scheduled to expire in 2019, Leverkusen supporters would have been a little concerned about the player's position at the club, especially as he has been subject to a lot of transfer rumours.

According to journalist Raphael Honigstein, Liverpool wanted to land Brandt ahead of Premier League top scorer Mohamed Salah last summer, per The Totally Football Show:

Calciomercato.com (h/t Football Italia) also credited AC Milan with an interest in the youngster.

Brandt is set to stay at the BayArena for the foreseeable future, though, where he will be part of an exciting young squad that has been playing some wonderful football under manager Heiko Herrlich.

In addition to Brandt the team have Bernd Leno, Tah, Benjamin Henrichs, Kai Havertz and Leon Bailey, who all have the potential to grow into something special at the club. Having penned a new contract, their No. 10 will be hoping that's the case.

Brandt has been a regular throughout the 2017-18 term, and given his versatility, he's been asked to fulfil a number of different roles by Herrlich.

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The Germany international is at his best on the left flank. While he may not be the quickest wideman, Brandt is intelligent in the way he drifts off the line to make space. He can take the ball in tight areas, glide past opponents and make contributions in the final third.

In addition, this season Brandt has also had an impact when entering games from the bench, as relayed by OptaFranz:

For Leverkusen, the decision to commit is a big one, as they will want to keep these young stars on board and build a team capable of challenging at the top of the Bundesliga.

Brandt is potentially key to that process, and with little doubt about where his immediate future lies, he can focus on helping Bayer earn a UEFA Champions League spot at the end of this season. They sit in fifth place, just a point back on RB Leipzig in fourth.