bundesliga

Why Bayer Leverkusen newcomer Jonas Hofmann is one of the Bundesliga's best players

09.07.2023

Jonas Hofmann has grown into a fully fledged Germany international at Borussia Mönchengladbach and now flies the nest to join Bayer Leverkusen as one of the Bundesliga's most productive players.

Leverkusen sign Germany's Hofmann!

The Heidelberg native initially emerged from Hoffenheim's academy, but didn't make a first team appearance for TSG before moving to Borussia Dortmund in 2011.

There, Hofmann made his senior debut against Hoffenheim on 16 December 2012 and he won back-to-back German Supercups in 2013/14 and 2015 - both earned by beating Bayern Munich and with Hofmann starting the former on the bench, then lasting the distance in the latter.

Despite showing promise at Dortmund, Hofmann was unable to tie down a regular spot at Dortmund, but he has done that and then some since making the switch to Gladbach in 2016.

Last year, Hofmann reached new heights in a difficult campaign for the Foals.

Watch: Jonas Hofmann was the star in a 3-2 win over Bayern Munich last season

Who is Jonas Hofmann?

The 30-year-old struck 12 league goals for the club in 2022/23, putting him second at Gladbach only to Marcus Thuram's 13 efforts. Meanwhile, his nine provisions could not be bettered by his teammates and just Randal Kolo Muani (26) and Jamal Musiala (22) were involved in more Bundesliga goals than Hofmann (21) across the entire division.

Having hit a career best 12 top-flight goals in 2021/22, this was further evidence of Hofmann's remarkable improvement in recent years.

Prior to the 2021/22 campaign, Hofmann's best single season Bundesliga return was six goals. During his first 100 appearances in Germany's top tier, Hofmann scored six times. His last 132 outings have seen Hofmann find the back of the net on 40 occasions.

Hofmann's soaring efficiency in front of goal was highlighted again in 2022/23 by the forward outstripping his xGoals figure of 8.4 by a whopping +3.6.

He's also embraced the role of talisman for his team, putting Gladbach 1-0 in front on six different matchdays through 2022/23. Niclas Füllkrug and Vincenzo Grifo, with seven, were the sole players to make it 1-0 for their teams more times throughout the same campaign.

The fact Hofmann teed up a league-high shots (101) and provided a the most pre-assist passes (148) in 2022/23 further underlines his creative side.

Then there's the 21-cap Germany international's work ethic. Only new teammate Jeremie Frimpong, Union Berlin man Sheraldo Becker and Wolfsburg's Ridle Baku made more sprints than Hofmann (967).

He also topped the Gladbach charts for most intensive runs (2,377) and that intensity saw him rank third for most goals from counter-attacks (three), all while finishing second across the division for the most corners that led to goals (four).

A team player who works his socks off, can punish you on the break, is getting increasingly devastating in front of goal and offering a threat from set pieces: the numbers do not lie. Hofmann is one of the best in the Bundesliga.