German male managed to shine (5)
I believe the answer is:
gleam
'shine' is the definition.
(gleam is a kind of shine)
'german male managed' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'managed' indicates an anagram.
'male' with letters rearranged gives 'leam'.
'g'+'leam'='GLEAM'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for gleam that I've seen before include "Coruscate" , "Glisten" , "Beam of soft light, comes and goes" , "Shine brightly" , "Small stream of light" .)