Bayern Munich kicked off their 2020\/21 campaign with a 1-1 draw to Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach followed by a 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup Final, before taking on Cologne at the Allianz Arena, where they were held scoreless in the first 45 minutes. One of the main culprits of their attacking malaise was Leroy San\u00e9, who lost possession 11 times, completed 9 out of 16 passes, and was heavily booed by Bayern supporters before being hauled off at halftime for Jamal Musiala. Musiala would provide the assist for Robert Lewandowski\u2019s opening goal after the break, whilst a brace from Serge Gnabry gave the defending champions a hard-fought 3-2 victory at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seemed set for another disappointing campaign from San\u00e9, who had failed to impress in his first season in Bavaria following a \u20ac49 million from Manchester City. He was expected to provide the \u201cmissing ingredient\u201d for a side that had just won a treble, but instead, he found himself unable to dislodge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman from the starting eleven and struggled to deliver under Hansi Flick. This season, however, San\u00e9 has found himself reinvented under Julian Nagelsmann, providing 11 goals and 11 assists in 26 appearances \u2013 the same amount of goal contributions as last season \u2013 and finding his best form since tearing his ACL in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
San\u00e9 is far from the only player to rapidly improve his fortunes over the first half of the 2021\/22 season. Let\u2019s take a look at the most improved XI of the ongoing campaign so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Arsenal announced the signing of Aaron Ramsdale for an initial fee of \u00a324 million, I\u2019ll admit I was incredibly sceptical at first. After all, this was a guy who had just suffered back-to-back relegations with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, and whose Blades let in a whopping 63 goals in 38 games. It\u2019s fair to say that Ramsdale has proven me wrong thus far, quickly beating out Bernd Leno for the starting goalkeeper position and thriving in between the sticks for Mikel Arteta\u2019s side. Having faced an Expected Goals on Target of 18.2, Ramsdale has conceded just 14 goals in the Premier League thus far. Not only is his passing range and distribution a massive bonus to Arsenal\u2019s build-up play, but his shot-stopping and reactions have seen him win Arsenal\u2019s Player of the Month award in back-to-back months. At 23, it seems Arsenal have found their goalkeeper for the next decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From T\u00e9ji Savanier to Andy Delort, Ligue 1 is certainly no stranger to late bloomers, and one late bloomer who is currently dazzling in France is Jimmy Cabot. After spells at Troyes and Lorient, Cabot joined Angers on a free transfer in 2020 and provided 1 goal and 1 assist in 23 appearances. The departure of manager St\u00e9phane Moulin after a 10-year reign and the appointment of G\u00e9rald Baticle has proved crucial in Cabot\u2019s renaissance, with the traditional attacking player being repositioned as a right wing-back and reaping the results. Apart from his 6 assists in 18 games, the 27-year-old is completing 2.39 dribbles per 90 minutes over the past 365 days, ranking in the 99th percentile amongst fullbacks in Europe\u2019s top five leagues, per FBRef. His 3.68 tackles (97), 7.85 progressive carries (95) and 18.71 pressures (95) demonstrate that he is quickly becoming the complete package for Angers, who sit 11th in Ligue 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to this season, you could be forgiven for knowing more random trivia facts about Max Kilman than whether or not he was actually a good defender. Born in Chelsea to Ukrainian parents, Kilman speaks fluent Russian and made 25 appearances for England\u2019s futsal team before joining Wolves in 2018. After making his debut for Wolves on May 4, 2019, Kilman was sporadically used in the following campaign and continued his upward trajectory in 2020\/21 under Nuno Espirito Santo, logging 2 assists in 20 appearances. However, the arrival of Bruno Lage as manager has seen Kilman become a vital cog of a defence that has conceded just 14 goals in 18 matches, a figure only bettered by Manchester City and Chelsea. Kilman is the only Wolves player who has played every single minute under Lage, the 24-year-old thriving on the right side of the back three and even bagging his first goal for the club in a 2-1 win against Everton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStanding 6\u20193,\u201d Salisu is a quick, physically imposing centre back who can read the game well and win 1v1 duels, and while he still hasn\u2019t made his Premier League debut yet due to a lack of match fitness, he has the potential to become the next superstar to emerge from Southampton.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has been one year and two months since I put Mohammed Salisu on my Top 10 Transfers of the Summer 2020 Transfer Window, and unlike James Rodr\u00edguez or Alexander S\u00f8rloth in my list, it\u2019s fair to say he\u2019s paying off his price tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n