Bayern boss wary as German clubs spend record sum
BERLIN: Germany’s top clubs had spent a record ¤600mil (RM3.05bil) by the time the transfer window closed on Thursday with Bayern Munich boss Uli Hoeness wary of the spiralling prices.
Bayern set a new club and Bundesliga record when they signed French midfielder Corentin Tolisso from Lyon for ¤41.5mil (RM211mil) in June.
The figure was later dwarfed by the ¤105mil (RM533mil) their rivals Borussia Dortmund stand to make from selling Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona.
In turn, the Dembele fee was less than half of the world record ¤222mil (RM1.13bil) Paris St Germain paid the Spaniards for Neymar.
“At the moment, this is a game without limits, where only the players can win,” Hoeness told German magazine SportBild.
“I honestly don’t know where all this is going. We are at a point where we really have to be damned careful, because at some point the spectators will have had enough. I must honestly say that it’s time we got things back in proportion.”
Yet Bayern have splashed out in a big way to improve their squad in the bid to win a sixth straight German League title. Burly Germany defender Niklas Suele was also signed from Hoffenheim for ¤20mil (RM102mil) while Kingsley Coman’s switch from Juventus was made permanent after a loan spell for ¤21mil (RM107mil).
Around the league, Bayern’s rivals have also dipped into their pockets to sign new talent.
Dortmund swiftly spent some of the money they made on Dembele, who only cost them just ¤15mil (RM76mil) a year ago.
Just before the transfer window closed in Germany they signed 17-year-old Jadon Sancho from Manchester City for around ¤8mil (RM41mil). The winger has come to Germany seeking regular first-team action and could prove to be the next Dembele.
Dortmund had already signed Ukraine winger Andriy Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiev, in a deal reportedly worth up to ¤30mil (RM152mil), and Germany Under-21 rightback Jeremy Toljan from Hoffenheim. In the pick of the other signings, Cologne spent ¤17mil (RM86mil) to replace China-bound striker Anthony Modeste with Jhon Cordoba from Mainz, but the Colombian has so far struggled.
Bayer Leverkusen splashed out a combined ¤36.5mil (RM185mil) for teenage Olympiakos defender Panagiotis Retsos, 19, and Argentinian striker Lucas Alario, 24, from River Plate. Retsos cost ¤17.5mil (RM102mil), while Alario cost ¤19mil (RM97mil) to replace Javier Hernandez, who is now at West Ham.
Borussia Moenchengladbach spent ¤17mil (RM86mil) on World Cup-winner Matthias Ginter from Dortmund.
Hertha Berlin strengthened their attack by forking out ¤8.5mil (RM43mil) on Davie Selke from RB Leipzig, even though he is currently injured.
However, the spending of the 18 clubs in Germany’s top flight is modest compared to their rivals.
The English Premier League reportedly spent ¤1.3bil (RM6.6bil), Italy’s Serie A teams (¤800mil – RM4.1bil) and France’s Ligue 1 (¤650mil – RM3.3bil) all paid out more.