The 2025-26 Bundesliga season begins on August 22, with plenty of interest for USMNT fans. The Bundesliga has more clubs with USMNT players than any other top division in Europe, with eight of its 18 clubs starting the season with Americans with full national team caps in the squad. As always, with the transfer window still open, things can change quickly. Here’s our guide to USMNT players in the 2025-26 Bundesliga, in alphabetical order by club.
Bayer Leverkusen – Malik Tillman
It’s a new club for Malik Tillman, returning to the Bundesliga after playing four games for Bayern Munich during the 2021-22 season. First on loan to Rangers then on loan at PSV in a deal that became permanent, Tillman has fully emerged as a top-tier attacking midfielder for club and country. A difference-maker in PSV’s title win last season, Tillman now joins a Bayer Leverkusen squad that finished 2nd last season. That underlines the importance of a player like Tillman, joining a contender in a high-value transfer from a title-winner. Obviously, the Bundesliga is not the Eredivisie, but Tillman’s development happened in the German system. The learning won’t have the same curve as Tillman readjusts to playing in the Bundesliga. According to reports, Tillman’s €35m transfer from PSV matches that of defender Jarell Quansah from Liverpool at the top of Bayer Leverkusen’s spending, but this is a transfer window where Bayer Leverkusen sold forward Florian Witz to Liverpool for €117.5m and defender Jeremie Frimpong also to Liverpool for $35m, among other outgoing transfers. Bayer Leverkusen reportedly made over €208m on outgoing transfers, spending over €116m to bring in new players in the summer window. With the window still open, that’s the most of any Bundesliga club so far.
Joe Scally and Gio Reyna – Borussia Moenchengladbach
Gladbach’s 2024-25 season was marked by a tough finale where they didn’t win any of their final seven games, taking two points from a possible 21. That meant 10th-place, showing how well the season had been going up to that point. Joe Scally played in 32 of 34 games for Gladbach last season, missing one due to yellow card accumulation. That shows how trusted he is in the club’s back line. So far, Gladbach hasn’t spent heavily on bringing in new players but has added Holstein Kiel forward Shuto Machino. Alassane Plea has moved to PSV and Ko Itakura is now with Ajax. Gladbach signed Gio Reyna on August 22 from Borussia Dortmund.
Timmy Chandler – Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht finished 3rd last season, when they were in the top four from matchday 9. Timmy Chandler played in three league games. Eintracht has brought in forward Jonathan Burkadt from Mainz and midfielder Ritsu Doan from Freiburg, both reportedly at €21m each. They transferred forward Hugo Ekitke to Liverpool for €95m and defender Tuta to Al-Duhail for €15m.
FC Koln – Kristoffer Lund
Kristoffer Lund spent last season in Serie B with Palermo, joining promoted club FC Koln for his first experience in the Bundesliga. How Lund handles that rransition will be the early story, alongside Koln attempting to show they belong back in the Bundesliga. Koln certainly didn’t belong in the 2.Bundesliga, winning that league to make an immediate return to the topflight. While it’s worth pointing out that Koln won the league by two points over Hamburg and the difference between 3rd and 1st was just three points, that also speaks to managing the entirety of a season. The difference for Koln was turning draws into wins, the only team to finish in the top six with single-digit draws. Meanwhile, Lund joins after playing in 33 Serie B games, finishing 8th, and making the promotion playoffs with Palermo. One notable absence for Koln was a key part of their promotion campaign. Damion Downs moved to Southampton after playing in 25 games last season for Koln and scoring ten goals with five assists.
Mainz – Lenny Maloney
Lenny Maloney moved to Mainz from Heidenheim in January 2025, ultimately playing in five Bundesliga games. Those were all substitute appearances, ultimately logging 23 minutes in the topflight. Mainz finished in 6th-place in 2024-25, qualifying for the UEFA Conference League playoff round. Jonathan Burkadt is now a member of Eintracht, with other moves meaning a reworking of the club’s first-choice lineup from last season. They add forward Benedict Hollerbach from Union Berlin, where he scored nine goals in 34 games last season.
St Pauli – James Sands
James Sands joined St Pauli on loan from NYCFC during the January 2025 window, playing in seven consecutive games before an ankle injury cost him the rest of the season. the last four of his games before the injury he started and went 90 minutes, showing how much he could mean to the club moving forward. St Pauli would go onto finish in 14th-place, tied on points with 15th-place Hoffenheim, with both three points above the relegation playoff spot. Player moves mean the club has had to rework its lineup, spending relative to scale for its second season since winning promotion. They’ve brought in midfielder Joel Chima Fujita from Belgian club St Truiden and defender Louis Oppie from Arminia Bielefeld and completed loan moves for Sands and Andreas Hountondji from Burnley.
Wolfsburg – Kevin Paredes
Kevin Paredes missed most of last season with an ankle injury, returning to play in two out of five games before missing the final three games of the season with a hamstring injury. Wolfsburg would finish 11th, tied on points with 12th-place Augsburg and two points behind 10th-place Gladbach. They made a coaching change, bringing in former Go Ahead Eagles coach Paul Simonis and making two loans permanent transfers. They’ve added midfielder Vinicius Souza from Sheffield United, spending €15m. As well as adding other players, Wolfsburg completed a loan for Jesper Lindstrom from Napoli, with Everton in the Premier League last season.
