The super strikers Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland are gone, Sadio Mané, Karim Adeyemi and other new top attractions are now providing action in the Bundesliga: Bayern Munich and BVB in particular used the transfer window this summer for top-class purchases.
The two industry giants alone spent almost 230 million euros on new footballers and earned around 200 million euros. Even on the last and traditionally particularly hectic day of the transfer period, well-known players still changed employers.
Like Haaland, Manuel Akanji no longer plays for BVB, but for Manchester City. His local rivals Manchester United just spent almost 100 million euros on the Brazilian Antony. In the Bundesliga, internationals Julian Weigl, who was loaned out by Borussia Mönchengladbach from Benfica, and Abdou Diallo, who joined RB Leipzig on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, were the most prominent signings of the final day.
FC Bayern in revenue and expenditure at the top
With the effects of the Corona crisis becoming less and less and under the impression that spectator income is increasing again, the clubs are investing more money in new professionals than in the past. The volume of the record summer of 2019 with spending by the Bundesliga clubs of just over 700 million euros was clearly not achieved this time either. However, a clear trend can be seen: After around 270 million in 2020 and almost 400 million in 2021, the 18 clubs now spent almost 480 million euros on new footballers. As in the two previous years, they even generated a plus with income of a good 520 million euros.
As in the current sporting table, Bayern are also at the top in terms of income and expenditure. With Matthijs de Ligt, who came from Juventus Turin for 67 million euros, they afforded the most expensive entry of all first division clubs. On the revenue side, the transfer of Robert Lewandowski to FC Barcelona for 45 million euros was only surpassed by Dortmund’s Haaland, who cost England champions Man City 75 million euros.
As a Haaland replacement, Dortmund brought in center forward Sébastien Haller from Ajax Amsterdam alongside Adeyemi. Because of a malignant testicular tumor, however, there are currently more important things than playing football for the 28-year-old.
RB Leipzig’s return campaign for national striker Timo Werner was also well received. Of all the Bundesliga clubs, VfL Bochum spent the least on players, namely less than one million euros. VfL is currently bottom of the table without a point.
FC Barcelona’s transfer behavior caused a lack of understanding
Top Spanish club Barcelona invested even more money than Bayern. The transfer behavior of the Catalans caused a lot of international attention and incomprehension. The heavily indebted club not only signed world footballer Lewandowski, but also the Brazilian Raphinha from Leeds United and Jules Koundé from FC Sevilla. The three cost Barça more than 150 million euros. “It’s the only club in the world that has no money, but buys any player he wants,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann in July. “It’s kind of weird, kind of crazy.”
As always, the open transfer window was also the time for wild rumors and plenty of alleged inside information. As always, sometimes it was true, often it wasn’t. For example, speculation about the future of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo caused a lot of fuss. Among others, FC Bayern and BVB were traded as possible new clubs for the Portuguese. Ultimately, Ronaldo stayed at Manchester United.
RB coach Tedesco complains of “distortion of competition”
In addition to possible changes, the transfer phase itself was also the subject of debate. The early start of the league due to the World Cup in November and December, combined with the long transfer window, caused discussions and planning difficulties at the clubs.
“I do wish that the transfer window wasn’t so long,” said Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco. Then you would have more peace. “Sometimes the players themselves don’t know what’s going to happen to me today. There’s also the issue of distortion of competition.” As an example, he cited his team’s game at VfB Stuttgart (1-1). “We play in Stuttgart and had to defend Sasa Kalajdzic, Kalajdzic is now with Wolverhampton. The first three opponents from VfB had to defend Sasa Kalajdzic, the rest just didn’t.”
Hertha BSC Managing Director Fredi Bobic is pleased that the most intense stress will now be over by next winter. “The majority is done, now I can finally go to the hairdresser again,” he said.
