Clubs of the Bundesliga have been very aggressive in their marketing strategies during the winter transfer window, costing over € 150 million collectively. To show this, Stuttgart signed a 9.5 million euro contract with 18-year-old Finn Jeltsch, a center-back from Nuremberg, which proves the club’s long-term vision under the guidance of sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth. Borussia Dortmund also uncovered the completion of their loan deal with Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka and reacquired their Salih Özcan from Wolfsburg to have a stronger midfield department.
It was a strange decision for Bayern Munich to choose Tel to loan out to Tottenham because the forward might potentially be their future. Meanwhile, the club from Leverkusen has got more signed Mario Hermoso on loan from Roma and Noah Mbamba, who moved back from Düsseldorf, which will make them stronger in the defensive line. Hoffenheim contracted Bazoumana Touré for a fee of €10 million, and also they got Leo Østigård from Brighton on the last day of the window.
Mid-tier teams such as Heidenheim and Bochum mostly dealt with strategic loans, in particular, they brought in Frans Krätzig and Georgios Masouras. Union Berlin will pay €4.5 million to the Sucrière due to the loan, but they got Maciej Gębala from LASK. The departures and arrivals in January showed that the Bundesliga’s strategy consists not only of bringing up young talents but also in the short-term market, and it is done in consideration of the financial situation of the clubs who are contesting the championship.
Werder Bremen’s entrance to RB Leipzig brought André Silva, a star who soon joined the top league teams as a potential masterstroke. Moreover, Mainz signed Arnaud Nordin, refusing to sell him to Montpellier to solve the problem of scoring. In the people of Wolfsburg’s portfolio was added one more name from Brentford- Andreas Skov Olsen for € 14 million, giving more evidence of their ambition to reach the next European tournament.
Not much activity existed in Freiburg’s transfer window; however, the €8 million signing of Jan-Niklas Beste from Benfica addressed wing deficiencies. St. Pauli’s loan deal for New York City FC’s James Sands was the most notable of all the lower-budget deals. The analysts have pointed out that the teams turn to loans for almost half of their transfers, i.e., 43%, versus less than a third of the deals the last year.
Transfer markets convey an equal competitive environment in the Bundesliga, whereas ambitious mid-table teams outspend traditional heavyweights. Stuttgart has followed a similar strategy to BVB by investing €9.5 million in Jeltsch. Hence, these teams getting ready for the season’s crucial phase can indeed bring about Champions League qualification battles and relegation dogfights, which will be both friendlier and stranger than before.