Bundesliga

FORMER Arsenal star Granit Xhaka is shining in a new role at Bayer Leverkusen.And he’s top of the pile in Europe for one key midfield star.
Granit Xhaka is leading the way in Europe for one key stat at new club Bayer LeverkusenCredit: Getty
Xhaka, 31, was snapped up by Leverkusen over the summer after being targeted by boss Xabi Alonso.
The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich superstar has since shown he’s as good in the dugout as he was on the pitch.
Leverkusen are top of the Bundesliga table after winning 10 of their 11 matches this season.
And former Arsenal skipper Xhaka has shined in a new role thanks to Alonso’s 3-4-3 formation.
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An extra centre-back has given the Swiss ace more freedom to roam forward as a supporting midfielder.
Surprisingly, he is yet to score or assist for Leverkusen.
But Xhaka has instead transformed into the man playing the key pass before an assist, creating 12 chances in total.
And as a result, he leads the way in Europe’s top seven leagues for most passes into the final third with 129.
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Xhaka also makes nearly 100 passes each game — with a stunning accuracy of over 93 per cent.
His attacking teammates have certainly benefitted from his technical ability.
Striker Victor Boniface has 11 goals and six assists this season.
Attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz is on six goals and 10 assists.
And versatile wide-man Jonas Hofmann has seven goals and six assists.
Even Leverkusen’s wing-backs are thriving thanks to Xhaka’s influence.
Right-sider Jeremie Frimpong has five goals and seven assists so far.
While left-back Alejandro Grimaldo is on eight goals and six assists.
And as long as Xhaka stays fit, perennial champions Bayern Munich could finally find themselves displaced at the Bundesliga summit come the end of the season. More

A SPECIAL clause in Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich contract has been revealed.And it’s given the England captain incentive to score even more goals for his new club.
A secret clause in Harry Kane’s contract gives him even more reason to score goals for Bayern MunichCredit: Getty
Kane, 30, left Tottenham for Bayern in a £104million deal over the summer.
The striker has got off to an incredible start under Thomas Tuchel, netting 17 goals in just 11 Bundesliga matches.
He has a further four goals in the Champions League.
And Kane has even assisted seven teammates too.
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But it’s reckoned the ace, who is still living in a hotel, is set for a major windfall should he continue scoring and setting up goals at Bayern.
Bild Sport claims a secret clause will see Kane receive a one-off payment of nearly £220,000 when he reaches 40 goal involvements this season.
Kane has 21 goals so far in all competitions, and with his seven assists has already made 28 contributions in total.
It means he needs to notch up just 12 more to secure his bumper bonus.
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And considering the form he’s in, it won’t be long until Kane is making another deposit at his local bank.
But the figure is just a drop in the water compared to his weekly wage at Bayern.
It’s reckoned Kane is pocketing over £400,000 every single week.
That makes for a grand total of around £21.4million per year.
And with Kane tied down at the Allianz Arena until 2027, he’s certainly making hay while he can. More

HARRY KANE’S record for fastest time to reach 15 Bundesliga goals has already been beaten.The Bayern Munich star has had a blistering start to life in Germany.
Harry Kane has had a red-hot start to life in GermanyCredit: Getty
He recently scored his 15th Bundesliga goal in just his tenth appearance in the competition.
The most goals scored through ten German top flight matches was previously 13, achieved by Klaus Matischak 60 years ago.
Ordinarily Kane would be romping away with the Bundesliga Golden Boot race.
But Stuttgart star Serhou Guirassy is matching him stride-for stride.
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The 27-year-old joined Stuttgart on a permanent deal from Rennes in the summer.
He has so far played two games fewer than Kane this season due to an injury.
While Kane took ten games to score 15 goals, Guirassy has managed to do so in just nine.
The Guinean already has two hat-tricks and three doubles so far this season, only failing to score in one match.
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Should he score in Stuttgart’s next match, he will also beat Kane’s record of goals through ten games.
Guirassy and Co travel to Eintract Frankfurt after the international break.
Kane, 30, now has a staggering 17 goals and five assists in just 11 Bundesliga games.
He has already scored more goals than previous Golden Boot winner Christopher Nkunku managed in the whole of last season.
The England captain has netted a further four goals in the Champions League.
And he amazed fans by scoring from his own half last month.
Guirassy, meanwhile, is rumoured to be moving away from Stuttgart.
The in-form star is being linked with a £15million switch to West Ham.
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In a recent interview with The Guardian, Guirassy said: “It’s something big to be competing with Harry Kane, who is a world-class striker.
“I think he has pushed a lot of strikers in the Bundesliga to raise their level to try to compete with him.”
Serhou Guirassy has had a sensational start to the seasonCredit: AFP More

HARRY KANE’S astonishing record-breaking continued as he passed last season’s Bundesliga goal record – in just his 11th game.Bayern Munich’s new strike hero reached 17 with a first-half double against FC Heidenheim – one more than Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku hit at RB Leipzig as the German top-flight’s leading scorer in 2022-23.
Harry Kane celebrates his opener on the way to another goal recordCredit: AP
Kane fired Bayern in front early on in Saturday’s clash with HeidenheimCredit: Getty
This Kane header completed his first-half double in the Bundesliga clashCredit: Getty
The England skipper had already become the first player to ever net 15 times in his first 10 Bundesliga games with a hat-trick in last Saturday’s 4-0 victory at Borussia Dortmund.
Now the £104million summer buy – normally known for starting seasons slowly – will surely be eyeing Robert Lewandowski’s all-time Bundesliga record of 41 three seasons ago.
Kane, 30, could even target  Erling Haaland’s 52-goal haul in all competitions for Treble winners Manchester City last term.
The Tottenham legend struck for the German top-flight leaders Bayern on 14 and 44 minutes in Saturday’s league clash with Heidenheim.
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And with 21 goals in 16 matches altogether this season he’s now notched 20 or more goals for ten seasons in a row.
Understandably, fans on social media were in awe of Kane’s poaching prowess, which makes him the leading scorer in top-level world football this campaign..
“Pretty sure he gets more than 41 this season,” said one, and “not bad for a one-season wonder,” posted another.
Similar praise included: “Man’s in his absolute prime” and “he’s going to break his personal best”.
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That’s a reference to Kane’s 41-goal haul in 2017-18, including 30 strikes in the Premier League.
And he’s already grabbed three more goals than Serge Gnabry did as Bayern’s top marksman last term. More

HARRY KANE is storing up match balls in his Munich hotel room after netting his third hat-trick since joining Bayern.The England captain hit a treble in the 4-0 statement win over Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker to take his remarkable tally to 15 goals in 10 Bundesliga matches following his £104million. summer move from Tottenham.
Harry Kane has scored three hat-tricks since joining Bayern MunichCredit: Getty
Kane turned down the chance to move into a £29million mansionCredit: Dan Charity
Kane’s latest hat-trick prompted a joke from Bayern team-mate Thomas Muller, who came up to him after the game and said: “Your hotel room gets smaller and smaller now, huh?”
Kane said: “I’m keeping them in my hotel room. I’m still waiting to find a house so I’m just storing them up. This was a nice hat-trick with a couple of nice goals in there. It was a special night.”
The striker is still searching for a house in Germany after turning down a luxury 12-room mansion worth £29m.
Kane’s treble was his second in a row for Bayern, having fired in three when they ran out 8-0 winners against Darmstadt last week, including an effort from his own half.
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Bayern recovered from the embarrassment of the German Cup loss to third-division Saarbrucken last Wednesday.
And Kane, who was on the bench for the midweek defeat, says his team-mates were desperate to bounce back immediately.
The 30-year-old added: “It was a tough and unexpected loss – it was a shock. We felt embarrassed as a team. We felt that we let the club and the fans down.
“There were no words or anything we could do in that moment to make it better.
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“The only way was to show a reaction. It was a good thing we had a game a couple of days later because it gave us no time to think about it. This was the perfect game to do that, away from home in the biggest game of the season.
“We wanted to bounce back. We started the game well with the high pressure and the two goals early on. We had a real desire and focus to make sure we won today. Today was our best performance all season, especially without the ball.
“We know with the players we have that we are going to get chances and score goals. Four goals, a clean sheet, we couldn’t have asked for more. With more games like that we’ll be hard to stop.”
Kane’s blistering form has got pundits talking about whether the ex-Spurs forward can go on and smash Robert Lewandowski’s Bundesliga record – achieved with Bayern in 2020/21 – of 41 goals in a season.
But Kane said: “It’s still a long way away. Robert was fantastic for the club, one of the best strikers in the world in recent times. We’re a long way away from that. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Asked how he keeps so cold in front of goal, Kane, who faces Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday, added: “It comes with experience and playing more and more.
“Since I’ve been 20 or 21 in the first team, I feel I’ve been learning and getting better every year. I’ll still try to do that for the rest of my career.
“I feel like I’ve still got a lot of time left to improve and get better. I always back myself in front of goal with any chance I get.
“With these guys around me I’m getting these types of chances I know I’m hopefully going to score some goals.” More