Why Bayern signed Tah | OneFootball

Bayern Munich's Jonathan Tah: A complete defender

Bayern Munich already have an impressive pool of players to choose from at centre-back, including Dayot Upamecano, Minjae Kim, Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanišič, so what else does Jonathan Tah add to the equation?

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Precocious

Jonathan Tah's arrival at Bayern signals a real coup for the Munich club, the imposing defender boasting vast experience on the domestic, European and international levels while still in his prime at just 29 years of age. How has he managed this? Well, it all started in Hamburg over a decade ago...

Tah made his Bundesliga debut for Hamburg away to Hertha Berlin on 24 August 2013, coach Thorsten Fink having opted to give the precocious defender his chance aged just 17 years and 174 days. After VfB Stuttgart right-back Josha Vagnoman, Tah remains the second youngest HSV player in Bundesliga history.

A fresh-faced Tah made his Bundesliga debut for Hamburg at the ripe old age of 17 years and 174 days. (imago sportfotodienst)

Tah racked up 16 Bundesliga matches with the Red Shorts that season before looking for more game time on loan at Bundesliga 2 side Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2014/15. His 23 appearances caught the eye of Bayer Leverkusen, who made him a transfer priority and signed him up for the 2015/16 Bundesliga campaign.

Onward, upward

Once installed with the Werkself, Tah never looked back and, over his ten-season spell with the club, he racked up 289 Bundesliga appearances, scoring 15 goals and providing 12 assists.

Only five players have ever amassed more Bundesliga matches for Leverkusen than Tah: Ulf Kirsten, Stefan Kießling, Carsten Ramelow, Rüdiger Vollborn and Thomas Hörster.

Tah (r.) was a 19-year-old when he made his Leverkusen debut under Roger Schmidt (left). (imago sportfotodienst)

Not only that, but Tah has an impressive winning record in his 305 Bundesliga appearances and sits fourth on Leverkusen's all-time victory list, behind Kirsten, Kießling and Ramelow. His overall record in Germany's top flight stands at 158 victories (155 with Leverkusen), 63 draws (60 with Leverkusen) and 84 losses (74 with Leverkusen).

Invincible

But what makes Tah stand out among Leverkusen's all-time greats, quite aside from his imposing 6'5" frame, is that he was a key part of the club's greatest-ever period when, under Xabi Alonso, they put their unwanted 'Neverkusen' moniker definitively to bed.

Appearing in all but three of the 2023/24 season's Bundesliga fixtures, Tah scored a career-high four goals as Leverkusen became the first-ever German top-flight club to go undefeated in a league season as they claimed a first-ever Bundesliga title.

Icing on the cake

For good measure, Alonso's side also clinched the DFB Cup title and a place in the Europa League final as they set a new European record of 51 consecutive matches without defeat across all competitions.

As the saying goes, 'defence wins championships' - and Tah was at the heart of a backline that kept an impressive 16 clean sheets in the league that season.

Tah has also racked up 32 Champions League and 45 Europa League appearances with the Werkself, while playing his way into the German national team and winning 35 caps following his debut in in a friendly against England in 2016.

Importantly, especially for a central defender, he has also proven cool-headed, having been shown just one red card throughout his Bundesliga career.

Full steam ahead

Thanks to his precocious start at the highest level, Tah has achieved all this by the relatively tender age of 29, meaning that new employers Bayern can expect the towering stopper to be at his best for the duration of his freshly inked four-year contract.

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