Top 10: German players outside the Bundesliga
Updated: Feb 7, 2021
The only good German footballers play in the Bundesliga, right? Wrong! Here are some of the best German players playing outside Germany, and how their season is going so far, sorted by value:
10. Sami Khedira
Photo: Steindy via Wikimedia Commons
Club: Juventus
League: Serie A
Age: 33
Position: Central Midfielder/Defensive Midfielder
Value: £4.5 million
How he came to be at Juventus: After seven years at VfB Stuttgart staying there for 7 years, Khedira secured a move to Real Madrid. His first club honour was the Copa del Rey in 2010/11, beating rivals Barcelona in final. Upon the end of his contract, he moved to Juventus on a free transfer.
This season so far: Khedira has fallen out of favour this season under new boss Maurizio Sarri, only playing 12 games in the Serie A In total for Juventus, he has scored 21 goals and 10 assists in 144 games.
9. Mesut Özil
Photo: Ronnie Macdonald via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Club: Arsenal
League: Premier League
Age: 31
Position: Attacking Midfielder/Winger
Value: £15.75 million
How he came to be at Arsenal: In Germany, Özil came through the youth ranks at his home club Schalke, before joining Werder Bremen. A €15 million transfer took him to Real Madrid, before he joined Arsenal for £42.5 million (a club record at the time). He is currently the club's highest earner.
This season so far: Özil has been disappointing this season, playing 23 times but only providing 1 goal and 3 assists in all competitions. In his best season at the club, he notched 19 assists and six goals in 2015-16.
8. Robin Gosens
Club: Atlanta
League: Serie A
Age: 25
Position: Wide Midfielder/Left Back
Value: £18 million
How he came to be at Atalanta: After representing a number of local clubs, Gosens finally made his big move to Dutch club, Vitesse Arnhem. Whilst at Vitesse, he failed a trial at Borussia Dortmund. After four seasons in the Eredivisie, Robin moved to Italian side, Atalanta.
This season so far: Gosens has contributed to seven clean sheets in 2019/20, adding eight goals in 30 games for Atalanta this season.
7. Julian Draxler
Photo: Michael Kranewitter via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-by-sa 4.0
Club: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)
League: Ligue 1
Age: 26
Position: Winger/Attacking Midfielder
Value: £21.6 million
How he came to be at PSG: As with Leroy Sane, Draxler had an important role at his first club, Schalke. He had a €15 million bid from Juventus rejected, before eventually moving to Wolfsburg. After a disappointing 18 months, Draxler moved to PSG. He described his time at Wolfsburg as the worst year and a half of his career.
This season so far: Draxler often plays a supporting role to world-class players such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr. In his 19 appearances he has bagged 4 assists and no goals. However, at 26, he still has potential to improve.
6. Thilo Kehrer
Club: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)
League: Ligue 1
Age: 23
Position: Centre Back/Full Back
Value: £25.2 million
How he came to be at PSG: Like Özil, Thilo started at Schalke. He had three successful seasons before joining PSG for €37 million.
This season so far: Kehrer is yet to cement his position in the regular first-choice XI for the French champions. He has, however, helped his side keep seven clean sheets in 16 matches.
5. Antonio Rüdiger
Photo: Brian Minkoff-London Pixels via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Club: Chelsea
League: Premier League
Age: 27
Position: Centre Back
Value: £36 million
How he came to be at Chelsea: Starting his professional career at VfB Stuttgart, Rüdiger moved to Roma for €9 million. His switch to Chelsea was worth an estimated £27 million.
This season so far: Rüdiger is Chelsea’s first choice centre-back. He was not available through injury in the first part of the season due to injury, but since returning has helped Chelsea keep five clean sheets.
4. İlkay Gündoğan
Photo: Michael Kranewitter via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-by-sa 4.0
Club: Manchester City League: Premier League Age: 29
Position: Central Midfielder/ Defensive Midfielder Value: £36 million How he came to be at Manchester City: Gündoğan featured for VfL Bochum and FC Nurnberg, before Dortmund snapped him up. It was there that he won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in the 2010/11 season. He transferred to Manchester City for around £21 million in 2016.
This season so far: 47 games this season has brought eight goals, six assists, seven yellow cards and three penalties.
3. Toni Kroos
Photo: DSanchez17 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative CommonsAttribution 2.0 Generic
Club: Real Madrid
League: La Liga
Age: 30
Position: Central Midfielder/Defensive Midfielder
Value: £43.2 million
How he came to be at Real Madrid: He started his career at Bayern Munich, moving to the senior team at the tender age of 17. He was loaned out to Bayern Leverkusen and played 43 times in the Bundesliga (in one and a half years), scoring 10 goals.
This season so far: This season has brought 35 appearances, six goals and eight assists.
2. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Photo: Michael Kranewitter via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-by-sa 4.0
Club: Barcelona
League: La Liga
Age: 28
Position: Goalkeeper
Value: £64.8 million
How he came to be at Barcelona: Ter Stegen started his career at his hometown club Borussia Mönchengladbach. Within his first season, he became first choice. By next season, he was one of their main stars. He was then transferred to Barcelona for €13 million.
This season so far: He has played 37 times in all competitions for Barcelona and has 14 clean sheets to his name.
1. Leroy Sané
Photo: Thomas Rodenbücher via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Club: Manchester City
League: Premier League
Age: 24
Position: Winger/Attacking Midfielder
Value: £72 million
How he came to be at Manchester City: Sané made his professional debut at Schalke before signing for Man City two years later for £37 million.
This season so far: Leroy Sané's season was frustrated by a significant cruciate ligament injury in the Community Shield in August. He has since rejected offers of a new contract from Manchester City and is widely expected to move to Bayern Munich this summer. In 2018-19, he scored 10 goals and had the same number of assists.