Former Liverpool and Arsenal stars are already big fan favourites at new clubs

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Naby Keita and Granit Xhaka are already the top shirt sellers at their new Bundesliga employers after leaving Premier League giants Liverpool and Arsenal in the summer. 

That is according to German publication Kicker. 

While copies of Harry Kane’s number nine shirt are flying off the shelves in the Bayern Munich club shop, the former Tottenham Hotspur talisman is not the only English football export who is proving to be a big hit with an adoring fanbase. 

Former Liverpool and Arsenal stars already fan favourites

Kicker, having contacted each and every member of the 18-strong Bundesliga, claim to have been informed by Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen respectively that Naby Keita and Granit Xhaka – signed from Liverpool and Arsenal over the summer – have also shifted the most replica tops at their new clubs. 

Keita is yet to make an appearance for Werder; another injury striking down a player who’s piano-wire muscles broke down time and time again at Anfield.

But the former RB Leipzig talisman remains arguably the most high-profile acquisition made by Werder Bremen in many a year, the arrival of a Premier League and Champions League winner capturing the imagination at a side who finished only three points above the relegation zone in 2022/23. 

Xhaka, in contrast, is already one of the first names on the Bayer Leverkusen team sheet; an integral cog in Xabi Alonso’s machine, and the driving force behind an unbeaten start to the new campaign for the early pacesetters. 

Xhaka shines at challengers Leverkusen

“I have the privilege of wearing the captain’s armband,” beams Leverkusen skipper Lukas Hradecky (Kicker). “But with Granit, I don’t have to be the only one who talks.

“I have to share this task with him, and that also makes my job easier. He’s just a leader. He takes on a lot of responsibility.

“(Xhaka) brings enormous composure into the game, sometimes with just a small pass. His influence is huge, both in the dressing room and in the locker room.”