BERLIN — The Premier League’s record transfer summer has had an acute impact on Germany, where even Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have felt the impact of English football’s growing financial muscle.
Other than Liverpool signing Alexander Isak from rivals Newcastle, the top four most expensive Premier League arrivals this summer — Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Nick Woltemade and Benjamin Sesko — all came from the Bundesliga.
A total of €380 million (RM1.87 billion) plus bonuses was paid out on that quartet alone, with the two most expensive moving to the same club: Liverpool.
Premier League clubs spent more than three billion euros this summer, a record for a transfer window.
The shifting sands have led to debate about whether to pursue major structural reforms in Germany, like abolishing the fan-loved 50+1 rule, which restricts outside investment and ensures member control.
Others, however, suggest that clubs could take advantage of the Premier League’s wealth, potentially uprooting Germany’s well-established footballing hierarchy.Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn, the club’s former goalkeeper, slammed German football administrators on Monday, saying that clubs and the league were content to play second fiddle.
Kahn called for changes in structure — and in attitude.
“For many, this is normal now. For me, it’s a signal. The league is playing too safe and has forgotten how to take risks,” Kahn wrote on his personal LinkedIn account.
“(The question is) whether we want to remain a league that creates talent and loses it — or whether we want to create the conditions for talents to stay here.”
Kahn did not directly call for the abolition of the 50+1 rule, but said that structural restraints meant “bold decisions don’t emerge”.
Under the 50+1 rule, German clubs must be majority owned by club members — mostly fans — thus restricting external investment.
The only two clubs which have an exception to that rule, Bayer-owned Leverkusen and Volkswagen-owned Wolfsburg, have won league titles in the past 20 years.
Double winners in 2023-24, Leverkusen lost eight members of that team this summer, with five moving to the Premier League.
Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes told DAZN this season: “when a domino falls in England, it will fall here. As a club you have almost no choice but to let the player go.”
