The Bundesliga clubs, as per their old custom, did not spend lavishly. All 18 clubs spent 601,225,000 euros. Compared to the untouchable spenders, the English (close to two and a half billion), this is almost pocket change, and it’s significantly less than the Italians, who stopped at 999,800,000. Even clubs in the French Ligue 1 invested more money in new players (722,811,587), only the Spaniards were more modest (555,589,999). The tradition was upheld when it comes to the biggest spenders in Germany. Bayern, Dortmund, RB Leipzig… Stuttgart invested more than usual, forced by circumstances after losing their top scorer, best defender, and starting left-back. This summer, only Bochum didn’t spend a single cent on transfers.BAYERN MUNICHEagle has landed: Crystal Palace star officially joins Bayern MunichConsidering they lost the title after 10 years, more was expected from Bayern and their new sports department led by Max Eberl. Michael Olise is a serious addition, while João Palhinha still needs to prove that he’s a player for the big stage, or rather for a club with the highest ambitions, especially given his age. Over 100,000,000 was spent on these two alone. Hiroki Ito is the least prominent name, but given his versatility (he can play as a center-back, left-back, or even as a defensive midfielder if needed), the Japanese player could turn out to be a great addition. Unfortunately, before his official debut, he suffered a serious injury and won’t be back on the field anytime soon.Bayern once again suffered some unpleasant defeats in the market. They dreamed of Ronald Araújo from Barcelona as the new leader of their defensive line but ended up without even a replacement for Matthijs de Ligt—Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah. So, the Munich club entered the new season with only two fully fit central defenders: Kim and Upamecano?! Eberl wanted to strengthen the more offensive part of the midfield this summer. He narrowed it down to three players in this order: Xavi Simons, Dani Olmo, and Désiré Doué, and in the end, he failed in all negotiations. Simons chose to stay in Leipzig, Olmo went to Barcelona, and Doué to Paris Saint-Germain.What a deal! Bayern Munich’s defending duo agrees a move to Manchester UnitedWhen it comes to the attack, an interesting decision was made by the people from Säbener Straße not to sign a classic alternative to Harry Kane after Choupo-Moting’s contract expired. According to some reports, Vincent Kompany will rely on Thomas Müller as the central forward. What has been postponed until New Year are the negotiations on new contracts for three very important players—Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sané, and Alphonso Davies. This poses an additional problem because in January, Bayern won’t be able to fully focus on the market to strengthen their depleted roster, as their attention will be diverted by the very real possibility of losing a trio whose market value is close to 200,000,000. Finally, the outgoing transfers, and once again, mixed results. Leon Goretzka stayed despite Eberl’s best efforts to sell him. Also, at the end of last week, Bayern agreed on everything with Al Hilal for the transfer of Kingsley Coman for 65,000,000. The player pulled out at the last moment, so now Kompany has a problem with an excess of wingers. In addition to the Frenchman, there are also Sané and Olise, as well as Gnabry, Tel, and the young Nestory Irankunda.BAYER LEVERKUSENBayer Leverkusen’s championship team has remained almost intact. Odilon Kossounou left for Atalanta, but he had already lost his starting spot in the second half of last season to Josip Stanišić, so the biggest loss for Xabi Alonso was actually the Croatian’s return to Bayern. Werkself tried to keep the young defender for at least another year but was unsuccessful.Centre-back carousel at Lever: one’s out, another inAs a replacement for the right center-back and full-back position when needed, Nordi Mukiele arrived from Paris Saint-Germain (on loan). The competition in the midfield was strengthened by Aleix Garcia from Girona (18,000,000) at Alonso’s insistence, while the transfer of Martin Terrier for a whopping 20,000,000 is a bit of an enigma, given that he is a player on a downward trajectory after a severe knee ligament injury. Bayer achieved a significant victory in the market against one of its strongest rivals—Bayern. They did not allow Bayern to take their vice-captain, Jonathan Tah.STUTTGART, DORTMUND, LEIPZIGAs already mentioned, Stuttgart probably suffered the most in this transfer window. Serhou Guirassy ended up at Borussia Dortmund, Waldemar Anton as well, while Hiroki Ito was taken to Munich by Bayern. To replace Guirassy, they spent 21,000,000, signing Ermedin Demirović from Augsburg. Neckar fought long and hard to buy Deniz Undav’s contract and finally succeeded (26,700,000), and at the very end of the transfer window, they secured the newly capped Belgian international Ameen Al-Dakhil (22) from Burnley for 9,000,000. This August, Stuttgart also made several purchases (Leveling, Rouault, Stergiou), then costly loans (El Bilal Touré, Franck Kessié, Fabian Rieder), so in the end, they spent over 75,000,000, which is an absolute club record for a single transfer window.They let Guirassy go but the other barrell of the shotgun stays putIn addition to the tandem from the city of Mercedes (Anton/Guirassy), Dortmund grabbed Maximilian Beier from Hoffenheim for close to 30,000,000. Pascal Groß will certainly be an “upgrade” compared to Salih Özcan (who went to Wolfsburg on loan), and the 22-year-old right-back from Manchester City, Yan Couto, is expected to quickly become a regular and start contributing.One German international out, other in: Borussia sign BeierThe departure of veterans Marco Reus and Mats Hummels represents a kind of restart at Westfalenstadion. Changes have also occurred in the sports department, now led by Lars Ricken, and the differences in transfer policy are already noticeable. In recent years, Dortmund hasn’t spent such large amounts on experienced players like Guirassy and Anton. This could also indicate certain changes in ambitions, as the Millionaires can no longer use youth and inexperience as an excuse. After all, with players like these and such investments, the fight for the title becomes imperative. RB Leipzig did not spend the most, but many would say they had perhaps the best transfer window this August. The Bulls not only earned over 40,000,000 but also brought in adequate replacements for all the players they sold.RB Leipzig had the best transfer window by far! Ladies and gentlemen, watch and learnFRANKFURT, HOFFENHEIM, WOLFSBURGThe club from Frankfurt probably had the best transfer window in Germany. By selling young central defender Willian Pacho (22) to Paris Saint-Germain for 40,000,000, they financed the purchase of Hugo Ekitike’s (22) contract, brought in Can Uzun (18), one of the most talented Turkish players, and then also signed Kristijan Lisztes (19) from Ferencváros, who is called the new Szoboszlai. And that’s not all. Robin Koch (27) was retained after his contract with Leeds expired, Mahmoud Dahoud (Brighton) joined on a free transfer, while Belgian and Danish internationals Arthur Theate (24) and Rasmus Kristensen (27) were loaned from Rennes and Leeds.PSG find a little known sweeper in Bundesliga for 45,000,000 eurosHoffenheim failed to keep the prolific, newly capped German international Maximilian Beier, which is why they “bet” on Adam Hložek, who hasn’t lived up to expectations since arriving as the Czech wonderkid at Bayer Leverkusen. This is by far the club’s biggest investment from Sinsheim this June and a historic record—18,000,000. Alexander Prass (23) was paid 9,000,000 to Sturm, Valentin Zhendro Lece was bought for 8,500,000, and Robin Hranac for 8,000,000 from Plzeň. Wolfsburg lost a key defender—Maxence Lacroix, who went to Crystal Palace for 18,000,000. His place was taken by the talented Greek player from PAOK, Konstantinos Koulierakis (just over 11,000,000). The defense was also strengthened by Denis Vavro from Copenhagen. Veteran Koen Casteels (who moved to Saudi Arabia) will be replaced by 25-year-old Pole Kamil Grabara. He is Wolfsburg’s biggest investment this summer, costing 13,500,000.MONCHENGLADBACH, FREIBURG, WERDER🗣️ Roland Virkus on our new man ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NmAfanzDRd— Gladbach (@borussia_en) June 21, 2024 Borussia Monchengladbach lost one of its best players—Manu Koné (to Roma), and it seems they haven’t found a proper replacement. The attack was reinforced by the tall Tim Kleindienst (Heidenheim, 7,000,000), and the offensive midfield by Kevin Stöger. Freiburg did not lose any important players during this transfer window. This will significantly ease the start of Julian Schuster’s coaching career, as he took on the heavy burden of succeeding the legendary Christian Streich. If he fits in, Eren Dinkçi (22) will be an excellent addition. He was bought for just 5,000,000. He is a winger whose market value is more than double, and it’s expected to rise even more. Patrick Osterhage will strengthen the competition in midfield, and it’s no small thing that they secured the stay of Maximilian Philipp.𝑬𝑰𝑺𝑬𝑹𝑵, Robert 👋🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/sDFSyfJEPj— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion) September 4, 2024 Werder spent the most on buying out Skelly Alvero’s contract from Lyon (4,750,000). They paid 2,000,000 for striker Keke Topp from Schalke, but the most attention should be paid to the player who arrived on a free transfer. It’s Marco Grüll, a left winger from Rapid Vienna. Last season, he scored 21 goals and assisted in 12. Union Berlin set a goal this year to offload some expensive players brought in for the Champions League. They largely succeeded in doing so. Robin Gosens, Aïssa Laïdouni, and Alex Král all left. There was an idea to sell Kevin Volland too, but his injury prevented the sale. Union spent a significant amount by their standards, paying 5,000,000 to Dortmund for young left-back Tom Rothe (19). He will replace Gosens. A year older, Leopold Querfeld was bought from Rapid Vienna for 3,000,000. If he can regain his former form, the signing of László Bénes (26) from Hamburger SV could prove to be a great move.ST. PAULI, KIELNewcomers St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel combined spent 5,000,000, mostly on little-known players. This is also typical for German football. There are no big investments—whoever can manage with the existing squad will manage, and those who can’t will quickly drop back to the second division. However, not everything is about money, as shown by the case of Heidenheim and their now-cult coach Frank Schmidt. When they entered the top flight for the first time in history last May, they spent just 2,300,000. Not only did they survive, but they also secured a spot in Europe. This time, with a slightly bigger budget, but still with serious financial self-control, the most expensive signing was Niklas Dorsch (26), a former Bayern youth player, for 3,500,000. It will be interesting to see how Heidenheim fares without their two best players from last season: Jan-Niklas Beste (Benfica) and Tim Kleindienst (Mönchengladbach). Judging by the start, their departure won’t be felt significantly.##NAJAVA_MECA_8312492##
