Bundesliga: Who could be the new stars?

There have been plenty of high-profile departures from the Bundesliga this summer.

Liverpool signed three of them alone – Bayer Leverkusen pair Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike.

Benjamin Sesko left RB Leipzig for Manchester United while his old team-mate Xavi Simons could be on the move to Chelsea.

And Bayern Munich legend Thomas Muller left the club after 17 years in the first team.

So the Bundesliga – which starts on Friday with Bayern v Leipzig, a game you can watch live on BBC Sport – will need some new stars.

BBC Sport looks at which new signings, youngsters or promoted players will hope to make a name for themselves in Germany.

The biggest summer signing in the Bundesliga has been Bayern Munich’s £65.5m recruitment of Liverpool winger Luis Diaz, 28.

The Colombia international scored 41 goals in 148 appearances during his three seasons at Anfield.

Last season was the most prolific of his career, scoring 17 goals in all competitions.

He scored on his Bayern debut in the German Super Cup win over Stuttgart.

United States forward Malik Tillman, 23, was one of several new recruits for Bayer Leverkusen this summer.

The former Germany youth international played four times in the German top flight for Bayern Munich in 2021-22, but moved abroad to establish himself as a first-team footballer.

He joined Leverkusen for about £30m from Dutch side PSV, for whom he scored 25 goals in two seasons and helped them win the title both times.

Tillman had previously impressed during a loan spell for Rangers in 2022-23. He scored 10 goals and was named PFA Scotland’s young player of the year.

Another Bayer Leverkusen summer signing with British experience is defender Jarell Quansah.

The uncapped 22-year-old Englishman joined Leverkusen from Liverpool in a £35m deal.

He played 25 times in all competitions for the Premier League champions last season – and this will be his first experience of playing abroad.

Borussia Dortmund will hope their second experience of signing a Bellingham goes as well as their first.

Dortmund paid promoted Sunderland about £27m to sign 19-year-old midfielder Jobe this summer.

The England Under-21 international has already scored for the club, having netted against Mamelodi Sundowns at the Club World Cup.

Jobe’s brother Jude netted 24 goals in 132 games for Dortmund before joining Real Madrid for £88.5m in 2023.

This will not be Ragnar Ache’s first season in the Bundesliga, but the forward will hope to make more of an impact this time around.

The 27-year-old joined second tier champions Cologne from Kaiserslautern, who finished seventh in that division, this summer.

Ache, who played for Germany in the 2021 Olympics, scored 34 goals in the past two 2. Bundesliga campaigns for Kaiserslautern – including 18 last year.

In his previous spell in the top flight, he only netted once in 20 games for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Left-back Louis Oppie, 23, has yet to play above the third tier – but has joined St Pauli this summer.

He was one of the stars of 3. Liga side Arminia Bielefeld’s shock run to last season’s German Cup final.

He played every minute in all six games of that run – and netted goals against Hannover and Freiburg.

Oppie, once in Hannover’s academy, also helped the side win promotion to the second tier.

Miro Muheim impressed for Hamburg last season and is the only player on this list to have been promoted with his team this summer.

The 27-year-old, who spent four years at Chelsea without playing a first-team game, is a senior Switzerland international.

Muheim can play in midfield but last season was mainly used at left-back, setting up 11 goals in 2. Bundesliga.

Tom Bischof, 20, is not new to the Bundesliga – having played in the German top flight since the age of 16.

The box-to-box midfielder played 56 times for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga since his March 2022 debut – and caught the eye of Bayern Munich, who he joined on a free transfer this summer.

The pre-contract deal was announced back in January – and since then he has made his senior Germany debut.

Bischof has already played twice for Bayern – at the Club World Cup and the German Super Cup.

Midfielder Bence Dardai, 19, is highly rated and played 21 times for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga last season – having joined from Hertha Berlin.

He will hope to make a real name for himself this season and add to his solitary goal thus far.

Dardai – whose father was Hungarian footballer Pal Dardai – played for Germany at youth level but is now a senior Hungary international.

Winger Julien Duranville will hope he can have a big role this season – but that could depend on whether he can get fit and stay fit.

The 19-year-old, in his third season at Borussia Dortmund, is recovering from major shoulder surgery. He was injured against Real Madrid at the Club World Cup.

That is not his first injury since his 2023 move from Anderlecht, either – having only managed 27 first-team games for Dortmund to date.

Duranville has won two senior caps for Belgium.