Spanish international Alejandro Grimaldo very much remains a “child of the Bundesliga”. It was only after joining Bayer Leverkusen on a free transfer ahead of the 2023/24 campaign that the fullback/wingback truly began to blossom. Given a chance to thrive under Spanish compatriot Xabi Alonso, Grimaldo earned his first Spanish national team cap in November 2023 at the age of 27.
“I would very much like to give it a shot in Spain,” Grimaldo told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “It doesn’t have to be this year. It could be next year. It could be in two years. It could even be in five years.”
Grimaldo told the German paper that he still felt as if Leverkusen could accomplish great things under new head coach Erik ten Hag. One must still note that Granit Xhaka’s recent move to Sunderland served as the 14th outgoing transfer from the club this summer.
Irrespective of how one tallies it up, however, Leverkusen are currently operating with a 24-man-squad. At least five to six players must be added to ten Hag’s selection pool in order to give the Dutch head coach a reasonable chance of competing in the league, cup, and Champions League.
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