Bundesliga's next breakout stars: The best unheard U23 players in Germany

Ronan Murphy

• Updated: 3 Oct 2025 09:26 CDT
• 5 min read

Analysis

The Bundesliga has been the greatest conveyor belt of talent for young players in the past decade, turning wonderkids like Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Florian Wirtz into world superstars.

Which players will be next to reach those heights? Everybody all knows about Jamal Musiala already, so who is the next, next superstar to emerge from Germany?

Analysing every club in the Bundesliga, here is one under-23 player from each club whose value has yet to sky rocket and become a known quantity outside Germany's top flight:

Noahkai Banks - Augsburg - CB 18 🇺🇸

Despite being a centre-back, the young American had three assists in pre-season and should have a greater impact at Augsburg after making his senior debut in January and signing a four-year contract extension.

Leopold Querfeld - Union Berlin - CB 21 🇦🇹

The Austrian was not expected to integrate so quickly into the Union Berlin backline, but his towering performances saw him finish 24/25 as a key part of their back three.

Samuel Mbangula - Werder Bremen - LW 21 🇧🇪

Bremen are in a major transition this season and the biggest new arrival other than the head coach is the Belgian winger who showed plenty of promise and plenty of speed in his single season with Juventus’s senior side.

Filippo Mané - Borussia Dortmund - CB 20 🇮🇹

Dortmund have a history of developing impressive defenders and Mané could be the next CB to break through. Patient in and out of possession, he seems ideal for Niko Kovac’s approach.

Ebu Bekir Is - Eintracht Frankfurt - CM 16 🇩🇪

The youngest player on this list, the Turkish-German midfielder has already played for Frankfurt’s senior side, coming off the bench against Roma in the Europa League. Expect more minutes as he is eased into senior football.

Johan Manzambi - Freiburg - CM 19 🇨🇭

The Swiss midfielder made his debut almost exactly a year ago and was rewarded with his first caps after some impressive all-round performances in the Freiburg midfield.

Alexander Røssing-Lelesiit - Hamburg - LW 18 🇳🇴

Norway keeps developing top-quality young attackers these days, and the ex-Lillestrøm winger could be the next star to emerge. Hamburg may need to rely on his magic to win points this season.

Diant Ramaj - Heidenheim - GK 23 🇩🇪

Dortmund’s next goalkeeper has Bundesliga experience with Frankfurt and Eredivisie experience with Ajax, but wants to prove he is good enough to be Borussia’s number one on loan this season.

Max Moerstedt - Hoffenheim - ST 19 🇩🇪

Hoffenheim will have an exciting young team this season with Moerstedt and Fisnik Asllani, and could surprise many in the league. They are searching for goals and Moerstedt showed at the U19 Euros he has plenty of those.

Said El Mala - Köln - LW 18 🇩🇪

The winger was sensational on loan for Viktoria Köln last season in the 3. Liga and is set to star for Cologne’s bigger club after a brilliant summer with Germany’s U19s.

Yan Diomande - RB Leipzig - LW 18 🇨🇮

Going from playing US high school soccer to Bundesliga fußball in a year, Diomande has been quick in all aspects of his life. Especially on the football pitch where he will give opponents nightmares.

Ernest Poku - Bayer Leverkusen - RW 21 🇳🇱

The fastest player at the U21 Euros, Poku has over 100 games in the top two tiers in the Netherlands, coming from AZ to be one of Leverkusen’s new talents in attack.

Kasey Bos - Mainz - LB 21 🇦🇺

Nelson Weiper is always being linked with a move from Mainz, so Kasey Bos will be expected to step up. The Australian left-sided player's brother made his Feyenoord debut this season too. His offensive and defensive capabilities should give him plenty of chances to create a footballing dynasty.

Lukas Ullrich - Borussia Mönchengladbach - LB 21 🇩🇪

The defender came into the Gladbach starting XI because of injury, Ullrich would not let the left-back position go thanks to his relentless energy and mentality where he’s always looking for the ball.

Lennart Karl - Bayern Munich - CAM 17 🇩🇪

Do Bayern Munich need to buy new players? Maybe not when they have teenagers like Lennart Karl and Wisdom Mike coming through. Both have already been given game time under Vincent Kompany and look to be the future in Munich.

Joel Chima Fujita - St Pauli - CM 🇯🇵

St Pauli need someone to win the ball in midfield and Fujita should be the man to do that. An interception machine at Sint-Truiden, he should immediately become a hero in Hamburg.

Noah Darvich - Stuttgart - CAM 18 🇩🇪

Barcelona brought the teenager to La Masia at 16 but now he’s back in Germany and ready to play in the Bundesliga where he could be used anywhere behind the attackers.

Dženan Pejčinović - Wolfsburg - ST 20 🇩🇪

With Bosnian heritage and that first name, the striker has been nicknamed ‘Džeko’ and he could follow in the striker’s footsteps at Wolfsburg, especially after shining in the DFB-Pokal.