Bundesliga
Summer Transfer XI
Douglas Costa was among the biggest names to join the Bundesliga on transfer deadline day, joining Leroy Sane in a stunning summer transfer period for Bayern Munich. Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and others have also made shrewd acquisitions…
bundesliga.com puts together a fearsome combined XI of all the new arrivals...
Rafal Gikiewicz
Age: 32
Position: Goalkeeper
Joined: Augburg
From: Union Berlin
Perhaps the least-known player on this list, but also perhaps the best goalkeeper in the Bundesliga not named Manuel Neuer. Gikiewicz racked up eight clean sheets last season as promoted Union Berlin defied the odds to ensure a second ever season in the German top-flight, some 11 points clear of the automatic relegation places.
Out of contract at the end of the campaign, Augsburg acquired the Polish shot-stopper on a free - as well as hoovering up Daniel Caligiuri from Schalke and Tobias Strobl from Borussia Mönchengladbach. Gikiewicz has already hit the ground running, making a league-high 15 saves as die Fuggerstädter have got off to their best ever Bundesliga start.
Watch: Augsburg's stunning start to the season
Age: 29
Position: Full-back/wing-back
Joined: Borussia Dortmund
From: Paris Saint-Germain
In need of a replacement for Achraf Hakimi, who returned to Real Madrid after a successful two-year loan spell, Dortmund came up trumps in the summer window by bringing in experienced Belgium international Thomas Meunier on a free transfer from PSG. At 29, he provides a vital counterweight to the likes of youngsters Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Gio Reyna.
In addition to offering a robust, reliable presence in defence, he can also chip in at the other end, having a direct hand in 12 goals in all competitions for the French champions the season before last. "Thomas is a player who has demonstrated his quality at the highest level in the Champions League and in the national team over a long time," said BVB sporting director Michael Zorc. "He'll really be of benefit to us with his experience."
Maxence Lacroix
Age: 20
Position: Centre-back
Joined: Wolfsburg
From: Sochaux
A France U20 international who might be further along in the national team pecking order if it wasn't for the embarrassment of riches the nation boast at centre-back - RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano and Bayern pair Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez to name a few - Lacroix is nonetheless one of the brightest defensive prospects in the game.
Standing at 6'3" but fleet of foot, Lacroix can win challenged in the air or on the ground with ease and has already slotted into a Wolfsburg back line that boasts USMNT first choice John Brooks and club captain Josuha Guilavogui, sharing minutes with both.
Age: 22
Position: Centre-back
Joined: VfB Stuttgart
From: Arsenal
Eleven outings during the second half of the 2019/20 season on loan at Bundesliga 2 side Nuremberg were clearly enough to impress one of the league's promoted sides, VfB Stuttgart. As such, the Greece U21 international has joined the three-time Bundesliga champions on loan for their returning top-flight campaign.
The move is one architected by former Dortmund head scout Sven Mislintat with Mavropanos, who made several appearances for Arsenal towards the end of both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 English Premier League campaigns, being no stranger to Stuttgart's sporting director, who previously served as the Gunners' head of recruitment. "We've known each other since our time at Arsenal, so I've been observing his development for a long time," Mislintat told the Stuttgart website. "Konstantinos is strong in the tackle, quick off the mark, and his ability and ambition are a very good match for us."
Ryan Sessegnon
Age: 20
Position: Left-back/wing-back
Joined: Hoffenheim
From: Tottenham Hotspur
An England U21 international who has racked up 43 youth appearances with the Young Lions, Sessegnon could yet become his nation's long-term left-back solution at senior level. After breaking onto the scene with Fulham - initially as a winger - Sessegnon's first-team opportunities on joining Tottenham last year weren't helped by a torn hamstring suffered early on.
Now fully fit, Sessegnon offers Hoffenheim some fine attacking verve from left-back, and his acquisition has the added bonus of freeing up Robert Skov - the left-footed Dane who is most deadly in the final third. Arsenal youngster Reiss Nelson had a fine spell on loan at Hoffenheim in 2018/19. Sessegnon should be in safe hands in Sinsheim.
Matteo Guendouzi
Age: 21
Position: Central midfield
Joined: Hertha Berlin
From: Arsenal
A Paris Saint-Germain youth product, Guendouzi may only be 21 but that hasn't stopped him from hitting 82 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal since joining the North London club from French side Lorient in 2018.
A tenacious midfielder, Guendouzi looks set to form a fine double pivot alongside his French compatriot Lucas Tousart, who initially signed for Hertha in the winter transfer window but spent the second half of last season back on loan at Lyon.
Age: 17
Position: Central midfield
Joined: Borussia Dortmund
From: Birmingham City
Bellingham is the latest English teenager to swap British shores for Dortmund and the Bundesliga, following in the footsteps of Sancho with his move to Signal Iduna Park. The box-to-box midfielder has made 39 appearances in the English second division for Birmingham City this season, with 34 of those coming as a 16-year-old.
The England U17 international - who has been likened to Steven Gerrard, Dele Alli and Jermaine Jenas, among others - joins an illustrious group of young talent at BVB alongside Sancho, Haaland, Reyna and more. With Dortmund's reputation for developing young talent growing stronger by the season, Bellingham's path on a similar journey towards the top is already taking vital steps in Germany.
Douglas Costa
Age: 30
Position: Winger
Joined: Bayern Munich
From: Juventus
A familiar face for fans of the Bundesliga and Bayern, Costa is back at the club he spent two seasons with between 2015 and 2018, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the DFB Cup along the way. With lightning-quick feet and imagination in the final third, Bayern will be hopeful he can add to the 14 goals and 27 assists he plundered during his first spell at the club.
Sane, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman offer stuff competition, but with Bayern defending a continental treble this season, they are delighted to have the 31-time capped Brazilian international in their ranks. "Douglas will reinforce the wide positions that are so important to our game," said sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic. "Douglas knows Bayern and will quickly find his feet again."
Watch: Douglas Costa's Top 5 goals
Max Kruse
Age: 32
Position: Forward
Joined: Union Berlin
From: Free agent
Something of a cult hero, Kruse is back in the Bundesliga with Union Berlin after a single season in Turkey with Fenerbahce, where he scored seven and assisted seven more in 20 Super Lig appearances.
Germany international, poker champion, race car enthusiast, former Werder Bremen star Kruse has already displayed his rare ability to play between the lines on returning to Germany, opening his Union account in last Friday's 4-0 destruction of Mainz.
Watch: Kruse's Top 5 goals
Age: 24
Position: Left wing
Joined: Bayern Munich
From: Manchester City
If you can score in a 4-3 victory away to Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 for Schalke at the age of 19 then you’re clearly a ninja-level talent – something Sane underlined in his four years under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, where he won two Premier League titles and was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 2017/18.
Having progressed from outrageously gifted youngster to a card-holding member of the world-class elite, Sane slots straight into Hansi Flick’s team on the left side of attack, with Thomas Müller and Gnabry alongside him and Robert Lewandowski spearheading as menacing a front line as they come. Blessed with pace to burn and a willingness to take on his marker(s), Sane’s headline-grabbing transfer will make Bayern even more of a force to be reckoned with.
Watch: Sane's first press conference as a Bayern player
Alexander Sörloth
Age: 24
Position: Striker
Joined: RB Leipzig
From: Crystal Palace
Losing star striker Timo Werner to Chelsea was obviously a big blow for Leipzig, but fans have plenty of cause for optimism going into the new campaign following the arrival of Sörloth. A Norway international strike partner for Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, Sörloth scored 33 goals and assisted 11 more in all competitions for Trabzonspor during a season on loan from Premier League side Crystal Palace.
Sörloth has been joined in the Leipzig attack by fellow summer signing Hwang Hee-chan from Red Bull Salzburg and Justin Kluivert from Roma, as Julian Nagelsmenn's side look to go one or even two better than last season's third-place finish in the Bundesliga.