We all love a bargain - and Bundesliga Fantasy Managers have more reason than most. - © DFL

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Bundesliga Fantasy Manager: Top 5 potential bargains in 2024/25

20.08.2024

Points mean prizes, especially when those points might cost you a fraction of your Bundesliga Fantasy Manager budget.

Finding the most cost-effective Fantasy squad ahead of the new season can be a tricky task, but luckily bundesliga.com is here to give a helping hand, with five names we think will outshine their paltry price tag...

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Joe Scally
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Defender
Price: 8M

Even during a difficult season for Gladbach, Scally shone in defence as an ever-dependable right-back who’s got the ability to fill in pretty much anywhere across the backline and even in midfield.

Watch: Greetings from across the Atlantic for Joe Scally

The USMNT international is likely to rack up the minutes this term, especially given his 31 appearances last time out - the fourth-most in his team. He’s also still only 21 and has plenty of time to improve, something Borussia also look certain to do after a below-par showing last time out.

When you factor in Scally's one goal and four assists from 2023/24, even just a minor improvement from both parties could well make 8M look like a snip.

Learn more about the new points system for 2024/25

Kevin Müller
Club: Heidenheim
Position: Goalkeeper
Price: 8M

Goalkeepers from promoted sides often face a lot of shots, boosting their stats, but Müller did far more than that, backstopping Heidenheim to an eighth-placed finish and European football in their debut Bundesliga campaign.

Kevin Müller is still far cheaper than a number of keepers he outperformed last season. - Sebastian Widmann

Müller was a must-have last season, finishing with the second-highest points total among keepers (212), seeing his price tag raise to 6.3M during the course of the campaign.

For this season’s Fantasy edition, he’s only gone up to 8M, still far less than many of the custodians he’s outperformed. With the stability of German football’s longest-serving head coach, Frank Schmidt, there’s reason to think he and Heidenheim could post similar numbers again.

Who are the OOP players to look out for this year?

Justin Diehl
Club: VfB Stuttgart
Position: Forward
Price: 5M

Rated as one of Germany’s premier young talents by those in the know, Stuttgart won the race for Diehl this summer and secured the thrilling forward for free from relegated Cologne.

Young star Justin Diehl could be on the brink of stardom. - IMAGO/Eibner-Pressefoto/Bernd Leitner

Beating off the competition must have surely come with the promise of first-team minutes, which has only been aided by the departures of 2023/24 top scorers Serhou Guirassy. Now it’s up to Diehl to stake his claim.

He’s already done so by scoring in pre-season, and with a record of 12 goals and nine assists in 19 games in the Regionalliga - plus a highlight reel idol Neymar would be proud of - Diehl could quickly get on a roll, and may never stop.

Win prizes and more - here's why you should play Fantasy this season!

Lewis Holtby
Club: Holstein Kiel
Position: Midfielder
Price: 6M

Bargains are often best found among the promoted teams, but rarely do they have the top-flight pedigree of Lewis Holtby. The former Schalke, Hamburg, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham midfielder has a combined 238 appearances across the Bundesliga and English Premier League, and showed he still has what it takes to compete going full tilt last term.

Watch: Who are Holstein Kiel and Lewis Holtby?

Holtby managed five goals and seven assists in 31 games, the third-highest total among Kiel players, while a number of his big moments were match-winners in high-pressure situations, and that’s the kind of mentality Kiel will be relying on in the Bundesliga.

When you combine all of those factors with his price tag being lower than many of his high-performing teammates, Holtby could well prove to be a very wise purchase.

Samuel Bamba
Club: Bochum
Position: Midfielder
Price: 1M

When it comes to bargains, you literally can’t get any cheaper than 1M in Bundesliga Fantasy, and among those players, one might be getting quite a few minutes this season.

Samuel Bamba is in new colours and ready to become a Bundesliga regular. - IMAGO/Steinbrenner

Bamba broke into Borussia Dortmund’s first team last season after raising plenty of eyebrows in their youth ranks and in training. Stellar performances in the third tier and UEFA Youth League even led Edin Terzić to describe him as a potential "difference maker in the Bundesliga".

Searching for first team opportunities elsewhere, he could deliver on the hype down the road at Bochum, and looks set for regular minutes judging by pre-season. The winger being listed as a midfielder also helps his chances of points, and for just 1M he could end up being the bargain of all 2024/25 bargains.

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