Bundesliga Team of the Season: Wirtz runs the show as Kane wins Golden Boot

Tom Weber

Updated: 18 May 2024 22:05 BST
7 min read

The 2023/24 Bundesliga season was arguably one of the greatest ever.

Xabi Alonso's unstoppable Bayer Leverkusen became the first side to go an entire Bundesliga season unbeaten, winning 28 and drawing just six games. VfB Stuttgart went from playing in the relegation playoff in 2023 to Vizemeister, vice-champions, in 2024 and Bayern Munich endured one of their worst campaigns in recent memory despite the acquisition of Harry Kane.

Article continues under the video

At the bottom of the table, the relegation battle went down to the wire, with Mainz and Union Berlin securing guaranteed safety in dramatic fashion on the final matchday. The 2023/24 season was the last one for German football legends such as coach Christian Streich, who departs Freiburg this summer after 12 years in charge and 30 years at the club and attacker Marco Reus, who is leaving boyhood side Borussia Dortmund after a combined 21 years across two stints.

Despite his legendary status, Reus does not make our Bundesliga Team of the Season, but the following players do...

© IMAGO - Xabi Alonso masterminded Bayer Leverkusen's first-ever Bundesliga title

GK: Lukas Hradecky - Bayer Leverkusen

We're lining up in a 4-2-2-2. In goal, we have decided to go for Bayer Leverkusen's Lukas Hradecky over Dortmund's Gregor Kobel quite simply because he played more games than the Swiss, who had to deal with fitness issues on more than one occasion.

Hradecky has always been a slightly error-prone goalkeeper, but thanks to the excellent defence in front of him, the veteran Finland international conceded the fewest goals in 23/24. The 34-year-old featured in 33 games and conceded just 24 times, while also providing valuable leadership.

RB: Jeremie Frimpong - Bayer Leverkusen

Another Bayer 04 star - and there will be many, many more - Jeremie Frimpong enjoyed a spectacular campaign. Though not a traditional right-back anymore, the Dutchman simply needs to be in a Bundesliga Team of the Season.

Frimpong notched an absurd nine goals and nine assists as a wing-back and proved one of the most exciting and fun players in the Bundesliga, often playing like a traditional winger. A regular presence in the opposition box, Frimpong could have scored even more goals had his finishing been better, but he is a right-back after all.

CB: Jonathan Tah - Bayer Leverkusen

Jonathan Tah enjoyed the season of a lifetime. Highly rated from a very young age, the centre-back never quite managed to hit the heights many thought he was capable of hitting. That was until 2023/24.

Xabi Alonso gave the German international a new lease on life and Tah ended the campaign as undeniably the best central defender in the Bundesliga and in the talent pool at national coach Julian Nagelsmann's disposal.

CB: Waldemar Anton - VfB Stuttgart

The first non-Leverkusen player here, Stuttgart captain Waldemar Anton had a season quite similar to that of Tah. Never a particularly outstanding Bundesliga defender, coach Sebastian Hoeneß appears to have breathed new life into the 27-year-old.

Good on the ball and with the right kind of aggressiveness for Hoeneß's system, Anton was outstanding in 23/24. After marshalling the joint-second-best defence in the league, the Uzbek-born German deserves to be included, though Edmond Tapsoba of Leverkusen must be named as an honourable mention.

LB: Alejandro Grimaldo - Bayer Leverkusen

Together with Frimpong, Alejandro Grimaldo formed one of the deadliest wing-back pairings European football has ever seen. Picked up by Leverkusen on a free transfer from Benfica, the Spaniard turned out to be an utterly brilliant signing.

With 10 goals and 13 assists, Grimaldo put up the kind of numbers a winger would be proud of, but even when he didn't directly contribute to a goal, the La Masia product was important. His set-piece delivery and passing range are weapons so deadly that you can look past his defensive shortcomings.

CM: Granit Xhaka - Bayer Leverkusen

The first of our midfielders is Granit Xhaka. Signed from Arsenal in the summer, the Switzerland international proved a transformative signing for Leverkusen, just like Grimaldo.

Xhaka's leadership, stunning ability to keep hold of possession and vision made him the heartbeat of Alonso's side and it is little wonder that he was the only player the Basque tactician felt a little uneasy about resting even when playing heavily rotated sides. Xhaka only missed one Bundesliga game - because of yellow card accumulation - and was always a starter except in the final game of the season against Augsburg.

Exequiel Palacios had a great first half of the season for Leverkusen and Robert Andrich a brilliant second half, but neither consistently performed like Xhaka. Stuttgart's Angelo Stiller and Atakan Karazor are honourable mentions.

CM: Florian Wirtz - Bayer Leverkusen

We're cheating a bit here because Florian Wirtz really isn't a central midfielder. However, there is so much brilliant attacking talent in the Bundesliga that we had to pull the Leverkusen man a bit further back. That should take nothing away from the fact that Wirtz was arguably the Player of the Season.

Leverkusen's chief creator, the 21-year-old notched 11 goals and 12 assists and his brilliance often bailed out Alonso's side when they were struggling to break an opponent down. Despite being an attacking midfielder, Wirtz puts in the hard yards and covers more ground than most, hence why we decided to play him at CM.

CAM: Xavi Simons - RB Leipzig

The first of our two attacking midfielders is Xavi Simons. The Dutchman mostly featured on the wing for RB Leipzig but he is a number ten by trade and proved to be one of the Bundesliga's most creative players in 23/24. The 21-year-old recorded eight goals and 13 assists and was an ever-present in Marco Rose's side.

After such a season, it is little wonder that parent club PSG have no intention to sell him despite reported interest from Arsenal and Barcelona. It seems likely that Simons will spend another season on loan in Saxony. Niklas Beste of impressive promoted side Heidenham and Stuttgart's Chris Führich also enjoyed very good respective campaigns.

CAM: Deniz Undav - VfB Stuttgart

One of the most unexpectedly brilliant players of the 23/24 season, Deniz Undav enjoyed a real fairytale campaign. Just a few years ago, he was playing in the third tier of German football and this term, he played a vital role in Stuttgart finishing as runners-up. Due to the 27-year-old often featuring as a second striker, he is one of our attacking midfielders here.

Initially an injury replacement for star striker Serhou Guirassy, Undav eventually made himself undroppable and formed a spectacular partnership with the Guinean - the deadliest in the league with a combined 46 goals contributions. Undav himself scored 18 times and created 10 assists in 30 games, earning himself a well-deserved place in Germany's Euro 2024 squad.

© IMAGO - Serhou Guirassy and Deniz Undav

ST: Serhou Guirassy - VfB Stuttgart

Speak of the devil, next up in our Team of the Season is the aforementioned Guirassy. The 29-year-old was quite literally unbelievable in 23/24, scoring 28 goals in as many games and providing three assists.

Had it not been for AFCON and injury, Guirassy could have caught Harry Kane in the race for the Torjägerkanone, the Golden Boot. Either way, the Guinean was one of the best players of the campaign and is rightfully being linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

ST: Harry Kane - Bayern Munich

The final entrant and the only Bayern player on this list, Harry Kane had a spectacular season, but it still wasn't enough to end his trophy curse. Kane netted a personal-best 36 goals in 32 games and was duly rewarded with the Golden Boot.

The €100 million striker proved a stunning success in Munich, breaking records on the pitch as well as off it in terms of shirt sales. Other strikers who had very good campaigns and deserve to be mentioned here are Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko (Leipzig), Max Beier (Hoffenheim), Omar Marmoush (Frankfurt) and Victor Boniface (Leverkusen).