Bundesliga Fantasy Manager 2022/23: Christopher Nkunku, Lars Stindl and the top 5 OOP players
Christopher Nkunku and Lars Stindl as midfielders with false nine tendencies? An out-of-position player (OOP) can help you get ahead of the crowd in Bundesliga Fantasy. bundesliga.com takes an early look at five of the best in 2022/23…
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Club: RB Leipzig
Position: Midfielder
Value: 15M
Nkunku was Fantasy's second best for total points last season (410), behind only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (448 pts). The France international played in all of Leipzig's 34 Bundesliga fixtures, registering 20 goals and 13 assists. He's listed as a midfielder once more, despite being deployed as either a second striker or false nine on 18 occasions last term. Sign up the 2021/22 Bundesliga Player of the Season, and you effectively have a fourth forward.
Watch: Christopher Nkunku - RB Leipzig's superstar
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Midfielder
Value: 10M
Stindl could take your forward count to five, depending on what new Gladbach head coach Daniel Farke has in mind for his captain. Stindl produced a career-best 14 goals and 10 assists in 2020/21, when he lined up in attack in all but three of his 30 Bundesliga appearances. He scored four and assisted five last term, once more flitting between midfield and support-striker roles. Jonas Hofmann - also listed as a midfielder - assumed the role of top scorer, but will set you back 4M more than Stindl.
Watch: Lars Stindl scored a brace against Borussia Mönchengladbach
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Club: Augsburg
Position: Midfielder
Value: 7M
While Nkunku and Stindl blur the lines between midfield and attack, Augsburg's Andre Hahn plays almost exclusively up top. Indeed, he scored three of his five Bundesliga goals last season when deployed as a centre forward, landing his other two as an advanced right winger. Augsburg have recruited a more traditional striker over the summer break in Ermedin Demirovic, but Hahn's case to form at least part of the attack - rather than midfield - under new head coach Enrico Maaßen is a compelling one.
Club: Werder Bremen
Position: Midfielder
Value: 6M
Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug fired Werder Bremen back into the Bundesliga last season with 19 goals apiece. How that partnership translates in the top flight remains to be seen, though their hand has been strengthened by the arrival of Oliver Burke. The Scotland international takes the No.9 jersey at Werder, suggesting he'll be used in an advanced role of some description. Across a career that includes a short spell at Leipzig, the 25-year-old has played as a striker 66 times, compared to 96 as an attacking winger.
Club: Hertha Berlin
Position: Defender
Value: 6M
Hertha's Maximilian Mittelstädt is another player who can't be pigeon-holed. Listed as a defender, he often steps out as a left midfielder or advanced winger. However, with relegation play-off hero Marvin Plattenhardt and Fredrik Andre Bjorkan vying to win over Sandro Schwarz at left-back, the Hertha speedster could do worse than make a play for the left-wing role in his new coach's preferred 4-1-4-1 formation.
As a taster of his credentials, he garnered 78 points for won duels last season, as well as a combined 38 for goals, assists and passes to a shot.
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