Christian Kofane among the hidden gems to track in Fantasy this season
A new Bundesliga season on the horizon means there's a fresh opportunity for players to catch fans by surprise and put their name on the map.
bundesliga.com highlights five players who could be potent surprise packages in the 2025/26 campaign, also coming in at budget-busting prices!
Christian Kofane (Bayer Levrrkusen), 3M
Bayer Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane is the first of those names that could have you re-shuffling your squad in the early stages of the season. Amid a summer of change at the BayArena, one thing that has remained constant is the presence of both Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface, two experienced No. 9s with a history of terrorising Bundesliga defences.
The signing of 19-year-old Kofane from LaLiga 2 side Albacete may therefore have gone under the radar, but he has all the ingredients for a breakout season in the Bundesliga.
Watch: Meet Leverkusen's new signings
After scoring eight times in his first 20 professional appearances for Albacete in 2024/25, Leverkusen were quick to scoop up the Cameroonian gem, and he’s been equally as quick to try and prove they made the right choice. Just six minutes after replacing Schick in Die Werkself’s DFB Cup first round fixture against Sonnenhof Grossaspach, he scored the third goal of their 4-0 win, showing that he could be capable of filling the talismanic striker’s shoes.
A raw, fearless talent with a knack for scoring goals, Kofane could well become a household name this season. Furthermore, his new teammate, Ernest Poku (7.7M), is an equally exciting signing, with the young Dutch winger assisting Arthur for Leverkusen’s second goal shortly after his entering the fray against Sonnenhof Grossaspach.
Dženan Pejčinović (Wolfsburg), 3m
Just one year Kofane’s senior is Wolfsburg’s Dženan Pejčinović, another young striker who seized his opportunity to impress in the DFB Cup with both hands. The Munich native started as the lone striker in the Wolves’ 9-0 win over SV Hemelingen and proved his ability to carry the goalscoring burden for his side with a 28-minute hat-trick.
Having appeared in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Bundesliga seasons for Wolfsburg, Pejčinović is not entirely an unknown quantity, however, many fans may not be expecting him to have an impact in 2025/26.
But, after scoring five in 19 for Fortuna Düsseldorf in Bundesliga 2 last season, which followed slamming home a jaw-dropping 28 goals in 18 U19 Bundesliga games in 2023/24, the Augsburg academy graduate is now one of three out-and-out strikers at the club, and there’s every chance he could make himself Paul Simonis’ first-choice this season as the Wolves look for new ways to get themselves back in contention for European football.
Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig), 5.5M
One of a number of new arrivals at the Red Bull Arena ahead of the 2025/26 season, 18-year-old Yan Diomande has been quick to impress since arriving from Spanish side Leganés this summer. He scored in his first friendly game against ZFC Meuselwitz after arriving, and made fans sit up and take notice during RB Leipzig’s pre-season adventures with his direct dribbling and entertaining flair.
He bagged his first competitive goal for Ole Werner’s side too, scoring in their 4-2 DFB Cup first round win over SV Sandhausen.
Also, with 10 LaLiga games under his belt already from his time at Leganés, the Ivorian talent may not need much time to adapt to top-flight football in Germany, and we could see him making an impact sooner rather than later in the Bundesliga.
Mathias Pereira Lage (St. Pauli), 5M
Mathias Pereira Lage arrives in the Bundesliga having spent all of his career so far in France with Clermont, Angers and Brest.
Although he’s completely new to German football, the French-Portuguese midfielder made 160 appearances in France’s top flight before departing for St. Pauli on a free transfer, as well as stepping out nine times during Brest’s 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign. Thus, he brings a wealth of top-level experience to Pauli’s forward line, as well as much needed versatility.
He can play in both wide positions as well as behind the striker, adding creativity and vision to a side with one of the most stubborn defences last season, but also one of the poorest attacks with only 28 goals scored in 2024/25.
If the Kiezkickers can find the attacking rhythm that they lacked in the previous campaign, Pereira Lage could turn out to be a very shrewd bit of business for Pauli, and for Fantasy managers.
Steve Mounié (Ausgburg), 3.8M
Another ex-Brest man, Mounié is already a familiar face to Bundesliga fans as he approaches his second season with Augsburg.
The Frenchman’s first year at the WWK Arena didn’t go to plan, as he scored just once in 16 appearances in 2024/25. However, Augsburg will be under new leadership in the form of Sandro Wagner this season, who will provide a fresh set of ideas as well as fresh start for Mounié, who he was stylistically similar to in his playing career.
In Augsburg's first competitive outing against Hallescher FC in the DFB Cup, Mounié looked more than ready to take advantage of that fresh start, scoring and completing 90 minutes as his side ran out 2-0 winners against the Regionalliga Nordost side.
The fact that Wagner set his team up with two strikers in that cup victory provides more reason to keep an eye out for the former Huddersfield striker, who could complement either Phillip Tietz or Samuel Essende in attack.
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