Journeyman manager José Mourinho once quipped that Bayern Munich wins the league in the summer because Bayern buys Borussia Dortmund’s best player. It has been a decade since Dortmund sold a player to Bayern (Mats Hummels), although Niklas Süle and Raphaël Guerreiro have made the move on free transfers. Over the last three years, Yann Sommer and Hiroki Itō are the only players that Bayern has acquired via transfer from other Bundesliga clubs.
Bayern’s inability to use the Bundesliga pipeline has coincided
with a decline in performance from the German national team as top players have been sold for larger fees to other countries, primarily Premier League teams. This has forced Bayern to open the club’s checkbook to bring in elite players from abroad, much to the dismay of Uli Hoeneß.
Bayern president Herbert Hainer and director of sport Max Eberl have been less bothered by the ever changing financial landscape.
“Of course, FC Bayern are still able to invest big sums,” Hainer told Sport Bild (via @iMiaSanMia). “But as always, we won’t do anything crazy – and we certainly won’t go along with what some agents might imagine.”
Bayern’s elite attacking trio of Harry Kane, Luis Díaz, and Michael Olise cost the club €218M in transfer fees but fans are likely to scoff at the results. Kane has won the Bundesliga Golden Boot all three years, Díaz played over 4,500 minutes with virtually no backup, and Olise was voted as the 2025/26 Bundesliga Player of the Season.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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