653 million in income
© Imago
Since the beginning of the transfer period for the club world championship in early June, football clubs have spent a total of 10.2 billion euros for new players. It is not a big surprise that the Premier League played the biggest role in international comparison and invested no less than 3.6 billion euros in new staff in the summer months. The Bundesliga has benefited more than everyone else.
While the Premier League played players from 15 different leagues, no other European top league attracted the attention and purchasing power of the richest English clubs as much as the German Oberhaus. A total of 653 million euros flowed from the island to the Bundesliga – more than the Spanish Laliga spent on all its newcomers this summer.
Whether Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekikte, who switched to Liverpool, or Newcastles later Transfer from Nick Woltemade – a number of the most exciting stars in Europe have exchanged Germany as a place of work this summer. While the fans of the Premier League are now leaning back and enjoying these new players, the Bundesliga looks back on an extremely turbulent transfer period. How do the decision-makers and top managers of the league rate the English shopping tour? Transfer market has heard.
German clubs sail through turbulent English waters
The starting point Bayer Leverkusen: The Werkelf tried to react to the incessant requirements of the summer transfer period by spending around 198 million euros for new players. At the same time, the Doublesieger from 2024 had to be finished with the departure of almost a dozen experienced professionals for 230 million euros – the around 50 million euros that arsenal will pay for the loan of defender Piero Hincapié are not even taken into account. The Bundesliga club lost a total of 254 million euros to the squad value, the new head coach Erik Ten HAG was released after three games.
“This summer was so intense, and you always have to be well prepared because you can never predict the English market,” explains Leverkusen’s sports director Simon Rolfes towards TM and adds: “You have to use the developments correctly and then on the one hand it is okay, but on the other hand you also lose good players. You should always have the attitude that it is not a problem to rebuild afterwards.”
When asked about the unprecedented income that German clubs have achieved from the transfer window, the Leverkusen boss emphasized: “There is always an association that is larger and spends more money than you. Havertz and others like Diaby, Tapsoba, Hincapié, Frimpong and Wirtz. make a higher level than five years ago. “
Another club that is familiar with the sale of players to England is Borussia Dortmund. In the last five seasons, the association has taken up 274 million euros in replacement of English clubs. Six of the club’s biggest sales were players who switched to the Premier League. But that does not mean that it is an easy task for German clubs to do this every summer.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for German clubs to keep up with the Premier League and the money they have available,” explains Dortmund managing director Carsten Cramer when he is addressed by the transfer market on the increased demand from England. “You have to see this as a challenge and as a club like Dortmund you shouldn’t complain, but simply make the best of it. It sounds very simple, but it is the only way. You have to be creative and accept that a player like Jobe Bellingham may be more expensive today than five years ago, but you can’t prevent it.”
Cramer praises his club for the income from player sales, but also admits that such a business model only works if Dortmund can scout and sign players from other countries at lower costs. This summer, BVB herself committed four players from England and at the last minute signed a loan contract with the Chelsea defender Aarón Anselmino to replace the injured stars in Niko Kovac’s team. “We have to be more present in markets that are not yet so developed and expensive,” says Cramer. “Dortmund will always be an association that trains players and creates potential. We will never commit great stars without potential. We probably have no guarantee that a young player who starts at Dortmund also ends his career at Dortmund. You can live or complain about it.
How much is too much on the transfer market?
“Of course we also have to talk about a certain regulation, because it looks like there are no limits to salaries and transfer fees, which is perhaps a bit too far away from reality,” continues Cramer. “But in the current situation, we should not complain as a Dortmund, but simply do our work and try to get the best out. But it is not easy to get along with the situation. It is always easy to criticize if you want a player and don’t get it. But the discussions and negotiations are becoming more and more complex and difficult compared to ten years ago.”
For clubs such as Leverkusen and Dortmund, the transfer market is a huge source of income, which you can usually use relatively easily. You determine the price of paying English clubs. For smaller clubs, however, this can become an existential threat. Cramer attests that there are growing demands for more regulation in order to curb the increasing displacement of the financial balance of power in European football.
Werder boss Filbry: “Global football is on the ass”
An association like Werder Bremen can usually put together a budget of around 40 million euros, which is based on traditional sponsorship contracts and the income from the 42,000 fans. In contrast to Leverkusen or Dortmund, the North Germans were not so lucky on the transfer market and generated only 7.5 million euros from player sales. You are not qualified for international business, so that the Werder budget for the season is about 10 percent of what Bayern Munich can spend. For club chief Klaus Filbry, this underlines the big problems with which European football is faced with.
“European football is on the ass, global football is on the ass,” clarifies the 58-year-old. “We need financial rules, so a salary limit is one of the instruments we need. Second, we have to play fewer games, we need a uniform football calendar.”
Filbry continues in conversation with TM: “There was no competition in the last twelve or 13 years, we had the same masters every year, with the exception of Leverkusen. This is not good for the Bundesliga product and not for international sale, even if it still works at national level. At the same time, the distribution of funds that flows into sport must be covered if you want to create really exciting national and international competitions.”
What worries the Werder boss more than the fact that his club can no longer keep up with Bavaria is that FC Bayern apparently has difficulty keeping up with the Premier League. This season alone, the German champion received cancellations from Wirtz, Woltemade and Xavi Simons, all of which decided to move to England. And although Filbry is not primarily concerned with the sporting success of FC Bayern, he thinks about the financial forces that have overtaken the richest club in Germany and one of the richest clubs in the world.
“We currently have a race,” said the Bremer. “We have tried to compete with Newcastle, Manchester City and PSG with Newcastle. This is simply no longer possible, and you have experienced this during this transfer period. On the other hand, we try to compete with Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund, which is also no longer possible. Because we simply cannot pay for the players. So, at least in my opinion, at least.”
Filbry’s opinion was recently shared by Bavaria’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß: “I was stunned what was going on in international football for the last six or eight weeks,” said the 73-year-old. “At some point people will say: Are they totally crazy?” He concluded his comments with the call to resist German football, the urge to follow the example of the Premier League and allow investments from other parts of the world. “That can’t end well,” said Hoeneß. “We have to show strength and are not allowed to accept the money of the Arabs and the American hedge funds. The DFL must ensure that the Bundesliga clubs never have to accept this money.”