The Bundesliga's all-time free-transfer XI | OneFootball

Bundesliga free-transfer XI: German football's greatest-ever freebies

We all love a freebie, and German football clubs are no different. Here, bundesliga.com serves up a starting XI consisting of the greatest free transfers in the history of the top flight.

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Goalkeeper

Roman Weidenfeller (Kaiserslautern to Borussia Dortmund, 2002)

Just six league appearances for Kaiserslautern were enough to persuade Borussia Dortmund to take a young Roman Wiedenfeller on a freebie in 2002. The stopper was slowly blooded into the first team, making 11 and 17 appearances at the Signal Iduna Park in his first two seasons, before becoming a key player from the 2003/04 season. The sometime Germany international would go on to make 349 Bundesliga appearances for the Black-Yellows, the club at which he finished his career in 2018.

During his time in Dortmund, Weidenfeller won two Meisterschale and a DFB Cup, as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League final, as Jürgen Klopp’s first-choice goalkeeper and was also part of the squad that won the 2017 DFB Cup under Thomas Tuchel. Money well, erm… not spent?

Roman Weidenfeller was first choice in Borussia Dortmund's 2011/12 title-winning campaign. (imago sportfotodienst)

Defenders

Steve Cherundolo (Portland Pilots to Hannover, 1999)

American Steve Cherundolo didn’t even get to make a professional appearance in his homeland before Hannover took him in 1999 – directly from college team Portland Pilots. Initially joining a Bundesliga 2 side, Cherundolo quickly established himself in the starting XI before helping the club to top-flight promotion in 2001/02. He would go on to make 370 league appearances for Hannover, the only side he ever represented across a 15-year career. He became captain in 2010/11 and still holds the club record for Bundesliga outings, with a cool 300.

Steve Cherundolo made a club-record 300 Bundesliga appearances for Hannover. (imago sportfotodienst)

Makoto Hasebe (Urawa Red Diamonds to Wolfsburg, 2008, and Nuremberg to Eintracht Frankfurt, 2014)

Mr. Longevity. Mr. Versatile. Japanese defender/midfielder Makoto Hasebe first arrived in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg in January 2008. The free transfer quickly established himself in Felix Magath's midfield and would go on to play a central part in the Wolves' remarkable 2008/09 title success, becoming only the second Japanese player to win the Bundesliga.

After five years and over 150 appearances at the Volkswagen Arena, he joined Nuremberg in 2013 but would only stay in Bavaria for a year before another free move to Frankfurt in 2014 at the age of 30, in what appeared to most to be little more than a late-career post before heading home to the Far East.

Nobody could have predicted that he would stay for another full decade, playing until the age of exactly 40 years and four months – becoming the fifth-oldest outfield player of all time in the process.  Hasebe added a DFB Cup in 2017 and a UEFA Europa League in 2022 during his time in Frankfurt before finally hanging up his boots in 2024 having cost three Bundesliga clubs next to nothing in transfer fees.

Makoto Hasebe stayed a decade at Eintracht Frankfurt, becoming one of the Bundesliga's oldest-ever players by the time he left. (IMAGO/Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON)

Franz Beckenbauer (New York Cosmos to Hamburg, 1980)

No Bundesliga 'best-of' list is complete without an appearance from Der Kaiser, and this one’s no different. Franz Beckenbauer may be best-known for his glittering stint in the heart of defence for Bayern Munich – where he won four Meisterschale, four DFB Cups and three European Cups (now the UEFA Champions League) – but it wasn’t only in Bavaria where he was crowned a German champion.

Following a four-year spell with New York Cosmos, a 35-year-old Beckenbauer returned to his homeland on a free transfer to join Hamburg, where he made 28 appearances across two seasons, winning a fifth and final Bundesliga crown in 1981/82. A born winner.

Franz Beckenbauer poses with Hamburg club legend Uwe Seeler during his time playing for the club. (IMAGO/WEREK Pressebildagentur/IMAGO/WEREK)

Naldo (Wolfsburg to Schalke, 2016)

Already a Bundesliga stalwart by the time he left Wolfsburg in May 2016, Brazilian defender Naldo shunned Premier League interest to sign for Schalke instead. He would go on to make 60 Bundesliga appearances for the Royal Blues, scoring eight goals and helping them to an impressive second-place finish in 2017/18. The latter campaign included arguably his finest individual moment in German football, as he crashed home a last-minute header to help secure a 4-4 draw against bitter rivals Dortmund – his side having trailed 4-0 at half-time. For that goal alone, he will forever be celebrated as a legend at the Veltins-Arena.

Lothar Matthäus (r.) in action for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1981/82 campaign. (Bongarts)

Alejandro Grimaldo (Benfica to Bayer Leverkusen, 2023)

Spanish wing-back Alejandro Grimaldo joined Bayer Leverkusen to little fanfare in the summer of 2023. Yet his new coach Xabi Alonso had identified him as the missing piece of the puzzle in his dynamic 3-4-3 system. Few defenders have ever made such an impact in their debut Bundesliga campaigns. Grimaldo scored 10 goals and assisted a further 15 as the Werkself went unbeaten in the league to secure their first-ever Meisterschale.

He also played a key role as Leverkusen reached the finals of both the DFB Cup and the Europa League – winning the former but falling at the last on the continent. The Spain international has been crucial again this campaign as Alonso’s side have performed well domestically.

Midfield

Lothar Matthäus (Herzogenaurach to Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1979)

While Lothar Matthäus is most commonly associated with powering the likes of Bayern, Inter Milan and Germany to glory across a remarkable career, it was actually an early free transfer that paved the way to later success. The diminutive midfielder spent his teenage years banging in goals for Bavarian lower-league outfit Herzogenaurach before Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach snatched him in 1979.

It was at Borussia where Matthäus morphed into the talismanic figure football fans across the globe came to know – breaking into the national side in 1980 and remaining part of it for two decades. Matthäus made 162 Bundesliga appearances for the Foals, scoring 36 times, before big guns Bayern came calling in 1984.

Leon Goretzka (Schalke to Bayern, 2018)

There have been three evolutionary stages to Leon Goretzka. He broke into local side Bochum in 2012 as a super-talented yet waifish playmaker in need of some polishing. After moving to Schalke a season later, he developed the speed, easy-on-the-eye dribbling and swagger of a top midfield player. But it was at current club Bayern, whom he joined following the expiration of his contract in 2018, where he morphed into a muscular, world-beating machine.

Forming a feared partnership with fellow Germany international Joshua Kimmich at the base of Bayern’s midfield, Goretzka has played a key role in five Bundesliga titles, two DFB Cups, a Champions League and a FIFA Club World Cup during his time at the Allianz Arena. At 30 years of age and with more than 250 club appearances to his name already, Goretzka’s status as an all-time Bayern great already looks set in stone.

Forwards

Randal Kolo Muani (Nantes to Eintracht Frankfurt, 2022)

There was massive hype around French striker Randal Kolo Muani in early 2022, when it was reported that his contract with Ligue 1 club Nantes was soon coming to an end. So it was seen as a major coup with Bundesliga side Frankfurt pipped some of Europe’s biggest clubs to his signature that summer.

The hype was to be believed too, as Kolo Muani smashed in 15 goals and registered 11 assists in his debut Bundesliga campaign. The pacy frontman impressed so much that Paris Saint-Germain opted to shell out what was reported to be the biggest fee Eintracht have ever received for a player in the summer of 2023 – just 12 months after he joined the Eagles. Not bad business at all.

Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund to Bayern, 2014)

A move that brings smiles to the faces of one fanbase, while leaving another in cold sweats. Few had heard the name ‘Robert Lewandowski’ when Dortmund paid a small fee to take the young striker from Polish club Lech Poznan in the summer of 2010. They’d certainly heard of him by the time he left, 187 appearances and 103 goals in all competitions later. Under Klopp’s guidance, Lewandowksi had transformed into one of the world’s finest goal-scorers, inspiring the Black-Yellows to two Meisterschale, one DFB Cup and an appearance in the 2013 Champions League final.

The heartbreak of losing that showpiece to bitter rivals Bayern stung all the more when, the following November, their best player informed the club that he would be joining their conquerors at the end of the 2013/14 season. In Bavaria, Lewandowski took his game to a whole new level, scoring 344 goals in 375 appearances in all competitions – including a record 41 in a single Bundesliga campaign in 2020/21 – and winning another eight Meisterschale, four DFB Cups and the Champions League.

Omar Marmoush (Wolfsburg to Frankfurt, 2023)

Striker Omar Marmoush is a living, breathing example that some players just take a little longer to realise their potential than others – we can’t all be Erling Haalands. Over stints at Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and VfB Stuttgart, the Egyptian showed flashes of his obvious potential without ever truly setting the world alight. So it was hardly jaw-dropping that the Wolves allowed him to join Frankfurt on a free transfer ahead of the 2023/24 season.

Still, his former club will have been kicking themselves when Marmoush rapidly burst into lift at Deutsche Bank Park, registering 18 goals involvements (12 goals, six assists) in 29 maiden Bundesliga appearances for his new side. In 2024/25, however, he took his game up another level, registering 25 goal involvements (15 strikes, 10 assist) in his opening 17 Bundesliga games of the season. That form prompted English Premier League club Manchester City to spend a hefty amount to sign him in January. Yet more excellent business by Frankfurt.

>>> How is a transfer completed in Germany?

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