Bundesliga top scorers 2023/24: Will Harry Kane be prolific at Bayern Munich?
- Harry Kane will surely be the striker to beat in the Bundesliga
- Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig have some potential challengers
- Sebastian Haller is looking to make up for lost time
By Euan Burns
Harry Kane's move to Bayern Munich is one that is going to capture attention throughout the 2023/24 campaign, even for many who do not normally show an interest in German football.
The Englishman is desperate to make a big impression straight away and help deliver another Bundesliga title for the Bavarian side. His primary aim is to win trophies at Bayern Munich, but he will also be very focused on making sure that he is the top scorer in the Bundesliga when the season comes to an end.
He certainly has the capabilities and any other forward player in the Bundesliga is going to be very proud of themself if they manage to end this season with more goals than Kane. As shown when he came on in the Super Cup against RB Leipzig, there is a clear place for Kane in Thomas Tuchel's Bayern Munich side.
He may not have been able to make too much impact in that game, coming on when Bayern were already 2-0 down, but Kane will be the primary striker starting almost every game in 2023/24, provided he can stay fit.
Kane is already the man to beat when it comes to the Bundesliga top scorer, so who do we think are going to be his closest challengers this season?
READ THE LATEST BUNDESLIGA NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP
feed
Harry Kane's Bundesliga top scorer competitors
Timo Werner - RB Leipzig
This is a player who will be hoping to have a much better season in terms of goal return in 2023/24 than he did in 2022/23. Timo Werner only managed to bag nine Bundesliga goals last season in an RB Leipzig team that did struggle for large parts of the season.
As shown in the Super Cup final, Marco Rose's side seems to be in very good shape coming into the new season and that will only help Werner. That being said, when you look at the types of players in the team, they may well be sharing the goals around with multiple players getting between five and 15 goals throughout the season, rather than relying on a primary goalscorer.
Sebastien Haller - Borussia Dortmund
Perhaps the best challenger to Kane, Sebastien Haller only got nine goals in the Bundesliga last season but he was absent for half of the season while he successfully recovered from testicular cancer. Those nine goals came in just 19 games after a long time away from the pitch and were testament to his remarkable strength and character.
He got five goals in the final four games of the season and will be more desperate than anyone to show what they can do when the new season gets underway. Borussia Dortmund always score goals, and Haller will be looking to get the bulk of them.
Randal Kolo Muani - Eintracht Frankfurt
The asterisk here is that Randal Kolo Muani could still leave Eintracht Frankfurt before the end of the summer transfer window. Should he stay, he has to be in the conversation here. He got 15 goals last season in the Bundesliga.
That made him the second-highest scorer behind the joint winners, Niclas Fullkrug and Christopher Nkunku. If he does not get his move, he has to ensure that he maintains his level so that clubs still come in for him during the summer of 2024.
Lois Openda - RB Leipzig
Brought in as (loosely) the replacement for Nkunku at RB Leipzig, Lois Openda is the club's record signing and he has so much to prove. He was almost unstoppable for Lens in Ligue 1 last season and was linked with bigger clubs than Leipzig.
His 21 goals for Lens are what led to this £33m move to the Bundesliga. It remains to be seen who will be the primary goal-getter at Leipzig given, as we mentioned, they are stacked with attacking players who can all get a healthy goal return in a fluid system. Openda and Werner started as the two strikers against Bayern in the Super Cup, so they will be having their own personal battle to beat Kane and one another.
Donyell Malen - Borussia Dortmund
Donyell Malen has not quite blossomed into the player that many expected just yet at Borussia Dortmund, but there is a feeling that this could be the season where he really starts to bang the goals in.
He got five goals in the 2021/22 season and that figure rose to nine last season, but he ended the season so well. In the final 10 games, he scored eight goals. Fans are excited to see if he can pick up where he left off and if he does, he could be a lethal forward in 2023/24.
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Liverpool's response to losing out on Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, Harry Maguire's Man Utd future and more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!