If you miss sport, you'll undoubtedly be watching the returning Bundesliga this weekend. We countdown 20 of the Bundesliga’s best players that you need to know about:
20. Kevin Volland
Photo: Дмитрий Голубович via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Nationality: German
Position: Striker/Winger
Age: 27
Value: £25.2 million
Profile: His youth career started with German Sports Academy FC Thalhofen, before spells at FC Memmingen, TSG Thannhausen and 1860 Munich where he went into professional football. After a four-year stint at Hoffenheim, he joined Bayer Leverkusen and has since scored 49 goals in 139 games.
Fun Fact: Kevin Volland shares the record for the fastest Bundesliga goal in history with Leverkusen teammate Karim Bellarabi!
19. Marcel Sabitzer
Photo: Tobias Klenze via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic
Club: RB Leipzig
Nationality: Austrian
Position: Central Midfielder
Age: 26
Value: £28 million
Profile: In his five seasons in Austrian football, at Admira Wacker Mödling and Rapid Wien, Marcel only played 109 times. Since moving to RB Leipzig, he has accumulated 179 appearances in the same amount of time.
Fun Fact: When Sabitzer joined the club, he helped them to a second-place finish in the 2. Bundesliga. He is now looking to help RB Leipzig clinch second spot in the top flight of German football!
18. Denis Zakaria
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Nationality: Swiss
Position: Defensive Midfielder
Age: 23
Value: £32.4 million
Profile: After a year at Swiss side Servette, Zakaria signed for BSC Young Boys and finally found his way to Borussia Mönchengladbach for a reported fee of €10 million.
Fun Fact: This year, Zakaria has attracted interest from major clubs such as Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Man United, Tottenham and Liverpool.
17. Alphonso Davies
Photo: Chris McPhee via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: Canadian
Position: Winger/Full Back
Age: 19
Value: £40.5 million
Profile: After joining from MLS team Vancouver Whitecaps for a then MLS record fee, Davies has made 21 appearances for Bayern and, with time on his side and bags of potential, he could do go on to do incredible things in his career.
Fun Fact: Alphonso was the first player born in the 2000s to play in the MLS.
16. Filip Kostic
Photo: Oleg Bkhambri (Voltmetro) via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Nationality: Serbian
Position: Full Back/Winger
Age: 27
Value: £28.8 million
Profile: Kostic played for Serbian side Radnički Kragujevac, and Eredivisie side Groningen before moving to German football with VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV and finally Eintracht Frankfurt.
Fun Fact: While he was at Radnički Kragujevac, he attracted attention from clubs such as Red Star Belgrade, Anderlecht, Udinese and most interestingly for fans of the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur.
15. Thorgan Hazard
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Club: Borussia Dortmund
Nationality: Belgian
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Winger
Age: 27
Value: £28.8 million
Profile: His professional career originated at French team Lens, before Chelsea bought him - despite never playing for them - on various loan spells he has won the Belgian Golden Shoe and when he permanently moved to Mönchengladbach, he made 100 appearances for the club.
Fun Fact: All 3 of his brothers play football at a very high standard - Eden is at Real Madrid, Kylian is at Club Brugge and Ethan is in the youth academy at Belgian team AFC Tubize.
14. Thomas Müller
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Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: German
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Winger/Striker
Age: 30
Value: £22.95 million
Profile: Müller has had a glittering career at Bayern Munich, coming through the youth system and has a total of 211 goals in 556 games for Bayern Munich and Bayern Munich II. He has been capped 100 times by Germany and helped them on the way to a World Cup win in 2014.
Fun Fact: Müller has made the 7th most amount of appearances in Bayern’s history, playing 521 games for the first team.
13. Philippe Coutinho
Photo: Dean Jones via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: Brazilian
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Winger
Age: 27
Value: £50.4 million
Profile: Philippe Coutinho has played for a number of clubs worldwide, including Brazilian club Vasco, Italian side Inter, La Liga outfit Espanyol, English force Liverpool, and Spanish giants Barcelona. He is currently on loan at Bayern. His best goal-scoring season was at Liverpool, when he bagged 14 goals in the 2016-17 season.
Fun Fact: Should Coutinho play in the French first division in future, he would only be the 3rd player to play in all of Europe’s top five leagues (England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France).
12. Robert Lewandowski
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Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: Polish
Position: Striker
Age: 31
Value: £50.4 million
Profile: After three seasons in Polish football with Znicz Pruszków and Lech Poznań, Lewandowski was transferred to Germany. He first joined Dortmund, where he finished second in the 2012-2013 Champions League golden boot race to Cristiano Ronaldo, and then Bayern, scoring 153 goals in 183 games in the Bundesliga, including 25 in 23 matches this season.
Fun Fact: Lewandowski’s father was a judo champion and also played football for Hutnick Warsaw.
11. Manuel Neuer
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Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: German
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 34
Value: £13.05 million
Profile: Manuel’s career started at Schalke, winning two trophies. Upon moving to Bayern he has won seven Bundesliga titles and a Champions League title. He has also received a number of personal honours, including finishing third in the Ballon d’Or voting behind Messi and Ronaldo and being voted UEFA goalkeeper of the year four times.
Fun Fact: In the penalty shoot-out of the final of the 2012 Champions League, Neuer actually took a penalty and scored!
10. Thiago Alcântara
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Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: Spanish
Position: Central Midfielder
Age: 29
Value: £43.2 million
Profile: Thiago was snapped up by Barcelona at the age of 14 where he won six honours, before moving to Bayern Munich for €10 million, where he has since won 11 trophies.
Fun Fact: Thiago was born in Italy with Brazilian parents but grew up in Spain, the country he plays his international football for.
9. Dayot Upamecano
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Club: RB Leipzig
Nationality: French
Position: Centre Back
Age: 21
Value: £40.5 million
Profile: Dayot is a youth product of French Ligue 2 side Valenciennes. He was snapped up by RB Salzburg before joining RB Leipzig for €10 million.
Fun Fact: His full name is actually Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano.
8. Achraf Hakimi
Photo: Антон Зайцев via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Nationality: Moroccan
Position: Full Back/Winger
Age: 21
Value: £48.6 million
Profile: Hakimi joined the Real Madrid academy at the tender age of eight and has been working his way up the ranks ever since. He is currently impressing whilst on loan at Dortmund.
Fun fact: Like Thiago, Hakimi was born in Madrid and grew up there, but because of his family background, he plays for Morocco.
7. Serge Gnabry
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Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: German
Position: Winger
Age: 24
Value: £64.8 million
Profile: Despite being in the Arsenal academy and having a brief loan spell at West Brom, his career only took off in Germany - he was at Werder Bremen before joining Bayern, where in his first season there (after a loan spell at Hoffenheim), he was named Player of the Season.
Fun Fact: His father was credited as a professional footballer, but this turned out to be ‘fake news’ and Serge had to clear this up with the Werder Bremen club magazine!
6. Marco Reus
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Club: Borussia Dortmund
Nationality: German
Position: Striker/Attacking Midfielder
Age: 30
Value: £28.8 million
Profile: Marco has come full circle. A youth product at Dortmund, he left for Rot Weiss Ahlen before joining Borussia Dortmund again - after a spell at Mönchengladbach - where he has scored 91 goals in 182 games, exactly one every other game.
Fun Fact: Reus is a huge Justin Beiber fan AKA a Belieber!
5. Kingsley Coman
Photo: Sven Mandel via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Club: Bayern Munich
Nationality: French
Position: Striker/Winger
Age: 23
Value: £36 million
Profile: A lethal winger and French international, Coman has been at Italy, France and Germany’s top clubs: after training at PSG’s academy, he moved to Juventus and is currently at Bayern Munich.
Fun Fact: Coman has a million followers on his Instagram account.
4. Timo Werner
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Club: RB Leipzig
Nationality: German
Position: Striker
Age: 24
Value: £57.6 million
Profile: Werner is the youngest player to represent and score for VfB Stuttgart. He then signed for RB Leipzig, a then club record £10.5 million fee. He is the youngest player to reach 150 and 200 appearances in the Bundesliga.
Fun Fact: When Werner first burst onto the scene, he was nicknamed ‘Turbo Timo’ because of his blistering pace.
3. Erling Håland
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Club: Borussia Dortmund
Nationality: Norwegian
Position: Striker
Age: 19
Value: £64.8 million
Profile: Erling previously played for his home town Bryne, Molde and then RB Salzburg, before signing for Borussia Dortmund where he has scored 10 goals in nine games.
Fun Fact: The most surprising player to be born in one country and play for another, Håland, who plays for Norway, was actually being born in Leeds, England, in July 2000.
2. Kai Havertz
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Club: Bayern Leverkusen
Nationality: German
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Winger
Age: 20
Value: £72.9 million
Profile: Havertz is the youngest player to make an appearance for a Bundesliga team, score a goal for a Bundesliga team, and to reach 50 and 100 caps for a Bundesliga team - all whilst at Bayer Leverkusen.
Fun fact: As a child, Kai supported former Bundesliga team, Alemannia Aachen, who are now in the German fourth tier.
1. Jadon Sancho
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Club: Borussia Dortmund
Nationality: English
Position: Winger
Age: 20
Value: £105.3 million
Profile: Watford and Manchester City - Sancho's youth teams - both missed out on a gem here. Since signing for Dortmund from Manchester City, he has scored 31 goals in 91 games for the first team. A true world-class talent, he is now coveted by all the top teams in Europe and is continually linked with a transfer abroad. He is likely to cost upwards of £100 million.
Fun fact: Sancho is a boyhood Chelsea fan, having grown up in London.
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