The 10 most valuable players in the Bundesliga in 2024-25: Kane, Musiala, Wirtz…
The Bundesliga is on the up. Elite players are making the switch to Germany at the peak of their powers, and plenty of Europe’s most exciting young ballers are tearing it up.
German football has been a stepping stone to greatness for decades now—think Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham – but now proven stars are signing up for Bundesliga teams to showcase their abilities in their respective primes.
We’ve identified the ten most valuable players currently playing in the Bundesliga according to Transfermarkt and, as you’d imagine, they are all absolutely mustard.
10. Benjamin Sesko – €50m
Sesko is the brightest thing to come out of Slovenia since Peter Florjancic, who was the country’s youngest ever Olympian, faked his own death on a skiing trip to avoid conscription to the German army in 1943, skied to Switzerland, was interned, invented a loom that disabled soldiers could use, then, upon his release, moved to Monte Carlo and invented the perfume atomiser.
Sesko hasn’t patented any world-changing inventions as far as we can see, but the Leipzig striker is superb in front of goal.
=8. Joao Palhinha – €55m
Palhinha has waited patiently for his big move to Bayern Munich.
After the move fell through in January, the midfielder got his head down and continued to excel for Fulham in the Premier League, and now has a real claim to being probably the best ball-winning midfielder in the world.
The tackle-happy interception machine, who must have his name scribbled in more referee’s notebooks than almost any other top-level player, is essentially a younger, more Portuguese N’golo Kante.
Bayern have picked very wisely with this one, we think.
8. Michael Olise – €55m
Another Bayern new boy, Olise is, stylistically, pretty much the polar opposite of Joao Palhinha. Silky, smooth, quick, beautiful delivery, accurate shooting, just deadly.
We’re devastated to see him leave the Prem, because that Crystal Palace front three of Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Eberechi Eze was one we’ll never forget.
=6. Dani Olmo – €60m
Olmo only played at Euro 2024 because Pedri got injured early doors. Looking back, that seems unbelievable since he ended up being one of the best players at the tournament by absolutely miles, and finished joint-top scorer.
That first touch and finish against Georgia had us stood up, pointing at the TV screen, going, “Have you seen that?! That’s disgusting, that!”
The Spanish Cole Palmer’s stock has risen this summer, and clubs across Europe will be considering chucking their transfer budget at Leipzig to bring Olmo in.
=6. Lois Openda – €60m
Openda is killing it out there, and he’s only getting better. Over the past four seasons, the now 24-year-old Belgian forward has recorded 37 goals for Vitesse (over two seasons), 21 goals for Lens in Ligue 1, and 28 goals for RB Leipzig.
Leipzig sporting a front three of Openda, Sesko, and Olmo, all still improving, is quite frightening, actually.
Romelu Lukaku is 31 now, and Openda is well-placed to become the big fella’s replacement at the tip of Belgium’s attack in the coming seasons.
READ NEXT: The 10 clubs with the most valuable U21 players: Brighton above Man Utd…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name all 25 Brits to have appeared in the Bundesliga since 2000?
5. Matthijs de Ligt – €65m
The Dutchman has been heavily linked with a move away from Bayern this summer but, as we write, De Ligt is still very much a Bayern player, and his stock is high.
Incredibly, the experienced Dutch centre-half is still only 24 years old. It’s easy to forget how young he was when he was captaining Ajax—just a teenager—and that perhaps plays into his market value.
If you can get him back to his incredible best, there’s a decade worth of baller in there for you somewhere.
4. Leroy Sane – €70m
Sane needs no introduction. Sane might have a problem, though. Sane is 28 years old—essentially in his prime—and plays in the same position as Michael Olise.
If Michael Olise has gone to Bayern Munich to sit on the bench, we’ll drag him back to the Prem ourselves, so Sane is going to have to either bring his absolute A-game this season, or risk being repositioned, sold, or benched,
Still, according to Transfermarkt, the Germany winger is worth an awful lot of money, so Bayern may have done some decent business here on their right-hand side.
3. Harry Kane – €100m
Despite finishing joint top scorer (alongside five other players) and reaching the final with England, Kane kind of stunk out Euro 2024. Maybe he wasn’t fit, maybe he was playing in a system that didn’t suit his natural game, maybe he was just short of form. Only he knows.
Regardless, Kane scored 44 goals in 45 games for Bayern last season, and is still worth a 9-figure fee at the age of 30, according to Transfermarkt.
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every club that’s won the Bundesliga title?
=1. Jamal Musiala – €130m
The one that got away. England should never have let Musiala go back to Germany. They should’ve given him some land, a castle, painted his face onto the Big Ben clockface, whatever the hell he wanted.
But they didn’t, and he left Chelsea for Bayern’s youth setup, and after representing England at every youth level, he chose Germany as his national team, and England is the worse off for it. Why the f*ck are we even paying taxes?
Musiala is 21, and the world is at his feet. Good luck to him—can’t wait to see him score the winner past us in the next World Cup final.
=1. Florian Wirtz – €130m
Levekusen’s 20-year-old forward is probably the hottest property in world football right now. He was the jewel in an invincible crown in 2023-24, and the apple of Xabi Alonso’s eye.
Wirtz’s dribbling, creativity, and end product are out-of-this-world, and he doesn’t seem fazed by the big stage.
At the minute, it looks like the German may be set to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for at least one more season and, honestly, we’re kind of excited for one more season of Wirtz and Alonso with Champions League football sprinkled in this time round.