Football is about to take over our screens every weekend, no matter where you are in Europe. With the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga to name a few, starting this August it’s time to start guessing who are the favourites to win the leagues. You can also make predictions on individual games with Paddy Power, find them here: https://www.paddypower.com/football/german-bundesliga
People are already predicting that Bayern Munich will claim the top spot – and after last year’s performance who can blame them? The question is, which teams will qualify for the group stages of the Champions League or Europa League? This summer there have been some interesting transfers which could lead to a switch-up in the positionings – let’s take a look at those top finishing teams from last year and see how it could affect their campaign this season.
Bayern Munich
This summer, the club ended up spending just over £80 million on their transfers, with four players walking through the doors and six players walking out.
Arrivals
Lucas Hernández – Bought for a fee of £72million from Atlético Madrid.
Benjamin Pavard – Bought for a fee of £31.5 million from VfB Stuttgart.
Jann-Fiete Arp – Bought from Hamburger SV for a fee of £2.7 million
Players on loan to the club include Ivan Perisic.
Departures
Mats Hummels – Sold to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga for £27.45 million.
Marco Friedl – After coming back from loan to club Werder Bremen, the player was then sold to them on a permanent deal for £3.15 million.
Rafinha – Sold to Flamengo in Brasil’s Serie A on a free transfer.
Franck Ribéry – Released without a club to go to and is now available to everyone.
Arjen Robben – The Netherlands legendary player has retired at the age of 35.
Players departing the club from a loan period include James Rodríguez after his two years at the club.
FC Schalke 04
It looks as if FC Schalke 04 are going for Europe after signing nine players and eight leaving the club, a big change has happened. Their total expense for the summer was a small £14.99 million.
Arrivals
Ozan Kabak – Bought for a fee of £13.5 million from VfB Stuttgart.
Benito Rama – Bought for a fee of £11.70 million from Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Bernard Tekpetey – Bought for a fee of £2.25 million from SC Paderborn.
Markus Schubert – From Dynamo Dresden on a free transfer deal.
Jonas Carls – Bought from Schalke 04 U19 side for an undisclosed fee.
Levent Mercan – Bought from Schalke 04 U19 side for an undisclosed fee.
Players on loan to the club include JonJoe Kenny, returning to the club from a loan are Pablo Insua and Fabian Reese.
Departures
Breel Embolo – Sold to Borussia Mönchengladbach for £9 million
Benjamin Goller – Left to join Werder Bremen on a free transfer.
Sascha Riether – Retired at the age of 36
Players departing the club on loan include Cedric Teuchert, Sebastian Rudy, Ralf Fährmann and Bernard Tekpete. Jeffrey Bruma returns to VfL Wolfsberg after his loan at the club.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Also known just as Hoffenheim, the club finished third last year by their goal difference after finishing with the same points as Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen. They managed to not spend a penny over the summer but earn a total of £81.9 million – let’s just hope the transfers can keep them at the top this year.
Arrivals
Robbert Skov – Joins from FC Copenhagen for a fee of £9 million.
Ilhas Bebou – Joins from Hannover 96 for a fee of £7.65 million.
Sargis Adamyan – Joins from Jahn Regensburg for a fee of £1.35 million.
Phillipp Pentke – For a free transfer joins from Jahn Ragensburg.
Konstantinos Stafylidis – For a free transfer from FC Augsburg.
Those who have arrived back to the club at the end of their loans include: Sebastian Rudy, Vincenzo Grifo, Havard Nordtveit, Philipp Pchs, Steven Zuber and Robert Zulj.
Departures
Joelinton – Leaves to join Newcastle United in the English Premier League for £39.6 million
Kerem Demirbay – Joins Bayern Leverkusen for a fee of £28.8 million.
Nico Schulz – Joins Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £22.95 million.
Nadiem Amiri – Joins to leave Bayern Leverkusen for a fee of £8.1 million.
Antonio Colak – After arriving back from loan is then sold to HNK Rijeka for £765,000
Robin Hack – Leaves to join 1.FC Nuremberg for a fee of £450,000.
Players who depart on loan include Justin Hoogma, Gregor Kobel, David Otto, Felipe Pires, Kasim Adams and Reiss Nelson.
Borussia Dortmund
The club have spent a healthy £51.3 million in this summer’s transfer window. After they finished 4th place at the end of last season, it was only a couple of goals that separated them from a top 3 finish. Hopefully the talent they have brought in for this year’s campaign will give them the extra edge they need.
Arrivals
Mats Hummels – Bought from Bayern Munich for a fee of £27.45 million.
Thorgan Hazard – bought from Borussia M’gladbach for a fee of £22.95 million.
Nico Schulz – Bought from TSG Hoffenheim for a fee of £22.95 million.
Julian Brandt – Bought from Bayern Leverkusen for a fee of £22.5 million
Paco Alcácer – Bought from FC Barcelona in La Liga for a fee of £18.9 million.
Mateu Morey – On a free transfer deal from Barca’s U19.
Partick Osterhage, Tobias Raschl and Luca Ubenheim all on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund U19’s.
Those returning to the club at the end of their loans are Alexander Isak and Sebastian Rode.
Departures
Abdou Diallo – Leave to join PSG for £28.8 million.
Maximilian Philipp – Leaves to join Dinamo Moscow for £18 million.
Alexander Isak – Leaves to join Real Sociedad for £5.85 million.
Sebastian Rode – Joined Eintracht Frankfurt for a £3.6 million fee.
Shinji Kagawa – After returning from loan to Besiktas in the Süper Lig is sold to Real Zaragoza in La Liga 2 for £2.7 million.
Those leaving on loan to other clubs include Jeremy Toljan, Ömer Toprak, André Schürrle, Sergio Gomez and Felix Passlack. Players returning to their home clubs at the end of their loan to Borussia Dortmund include Christian Pulisic and Paco Alcácer.
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen are another club you would expect to see spending big this summer, but they only spend £24.75 million. The club just missed out on competing in the Champions League this year, but will instead be involved in the Europa Cup. It was quite the hit for the side as they only missed out because of goal difference, there were 4 goals in it between third and fifth place this last season. Let’s hope their arrivals can help the side into reaching that higher classification of European football.
Arrivals
Kerem Demirbay – Arrives from TSG Hoffenheim for a fee of £28.8 million.
Moussa Diaby – Arrives from PSG for £13.5 million.
Nadiem Amiri – Joins from TSG Hoffenheim for a fee of £8.1 million.
Daley Sinkgraven – Joins from Ajax in the Eredivisie for £4.5 million.
Adrian Stanilewicz – Signs a professional contract with the club after playing in the U19 squad.
Those who arrive back to the club after their loans include Tomasz Kucs and Niklas Lomb.
Departures
Julian Brandt – Leaves to join Borussia Dortmund for £22.5 million.
Domink Kohr – Joins Eintracht Frankfurt for £7.65 million.
Sam Schreck – Leaves to join FC Gronigen for an undisclosed fee.
Jan Boller – Leaves to join LASK for an undisclosed fee.
Isaac Kiese Thelin returns back to his club RSC Anderlecht at the end of his loan to the club.
For such a tight top finish this season you would have possibly expected more money to be spent. However, it’s important to realise just how many players are arriving/leaving the club as this is what truly makes the difference on the field. With Bayern Munich having dominated the league for the last seven seasons, the teams below are constantly fighting for that top spot and places within the Champions League. Let’s see if the transfers will make a positive impact this season.
