Hannover 96 -2.180.000 €
Grade: B, could grow to an A
The 96ers have no money, so a modest 5 million expediture would have to bring in some gems. They did get some defensive help with Felipe, and based on the first two matches, a diamond in Huszti, who would probably be Player of the Year if the season ended today. After Kagawa, unknown Japanese players are all the rage, so we’ll see if Hannover picked up a winner in Sakai. They didn’t really lose anyone, except perhaps Pogatetz.
IN: Hiroki Sakai Kashiwa Reysol 1.200.000 € Felipe Standard Lüttich 2.500.000 € Adrian Nikci FC Zürich 600.000 € Sascha Schünemann Hannover 96 II Yannik Schulze Hannover 96 U17 Niko Gießelmann Hannover 96 II Szabolcs Huszti Zenit St. Petersburg 750.000 € OUT: Jannis Pläschke Hannover 96 II Willi Evseev Hannover 96 II Daniel Royer * 1.FC Köln 120.000 € Moritz Stoppelkamp TSV 1860 München 250.000 € Emanuel Pogatetz VfL Wolfsburg 2.500.000 € Erdal Akdari Kayserispor Altin Lala FC Bayern München II Carlitos GD Estoril-Praia Christopher Avevor * FC St. Pauli Henning Hauger * Lilleström SK
VfL Wolfsburg +1.000.000 €
Grade: C-
It’s drunken sailor time, Felix Magath in da house! Actually, Magath was kind of restrained in that he only spent 19 million, and the Wolfies actually made a profit, since he’s been dumping a lot of his other purchases he doesn’t like anymore. Of course, it helps that he got 13 million for Mandzukic, who looked fed up with Wolfsburg towards the end of last season.
A lot of the players he brought in are questionable. Perhaps Olic still has some miles left. And this Bas Dost, who knows whether he can cut it in the Bundesliga. They’ll need it, since Helmes is out injured for about 6 months.
The best buy might be veteran Naldo, since the Wolfsburg defense seems like the usual Hühnerhaufen. Look for some wild spending in the winter window…
IN: Vaclav Pilar FC Hradec Králové 1.500.000 € Ivica Olic FC Bayern München Patrick Drewes VfL Wolfsburg U19 Emanuel Pogatetz Hannover 96 2.500.000 € Bas Dost SC Heerenveen 7.000.000 € Kevin Pannewitz FC Hansa Rostock 300.000 € Naldo SV Werder Bremen 4.800.000 € Fágner Vasco da Gama Rio 3.000.000 € Akaki Gogia * FC Augsburg Simon Kjaer * AS Rom Diego * Atlético Madrid Thomas Kahlenberg * FC Évian Thonon Gaillard Srdjan Lakic * TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Sotirios Kyrgiakos * AFC Sunderland OUT: Mario Mandzukic FC Bayern München 13.000.000 € Giovanni Sio * FC Augsburg F 100.000 € Akaki Gogia * FC St. Pauli 50.000 € Ibrahim Sissoko * Panathinaikos Athen 100.000 € Nassim Ben Khalifa * Grasshopper Club Zürich Bjarne Thoelke * Dynamo Dresden 50.000 € Caiuby FC Ingolstadt 04 Kevin Scheidhauer * VfL Bochum 100.000 € André Lenz (retired) Hasan Salihamidzic (unknown) Thomas Hitzlsperger (unknown) Chris TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Sebastian Polter * 1.FC Nürnberg 200.000 € Petr Jirácek Hamburger SV 4.000.000 € Patrick Ochs * TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Peter Pekarík Hertha BSC Ashkan Dejagah FC Fulham 2.500.000 € Tuncay Sanli Bursaspor
SV Werder Bremen -650.000 €
Grade: C+
Bremen seemed to take a “clean house” approach, jettisoning a lot of expensive talent who basically failed last year. It’s a risky strategy, because if they suck, it could mean the end of the Schaaf-Allofs era. Werder made a slight profit, after spending almost 13 million. But they were really making a conscious decision to reduce salary…so they weren’t getting as much as you would expect. I think foisting Marko Marin onto Chelski and getting 8 million was a good bit of business. Marin is a talented player, but looks to be a poor man’s Reus, older and not as good. He had a fling in the national team, and is a good dribbler. But appears to lacking in determination and finishing. I would think he’ll warm the bench at Stamford Bridge before getting loaned out to Leyton Orient. Naldo they would have liked to keep, but he wanted to leave, so getting money was nice. Tim Wiese is still a top GK, but costs too much. Pizarro was excellent last year, but he wanted a presumably bigger paycheck to warm the bench at Bayern, although at the time Bayern hadn’t signed Mandzukic. They might have gotten a steal in Czech defender Selassie, who looked good in the Euros. But Elia didn’t exactly set the league on fire in his previous stay at HSV.
IN: Sokratis FC Genua 1893 3.500.000 € Kevin de Bruyne * FC Chelsea 450.000 € Eljero Elia Juventus Turin 5.500.000 € Nils Petersen * FC Bayern München 500.000 € Theodor Gebre Selassie FC Slovan Liberec 1.800.000 € Cimo Röcker SV Werder Bremen U19 Assani Lukimya-Mulongoti Fortuna Düsseldorf Richard Strebinger Hertha BSC II H Raphael Wolf SV Kapfenberg 200.000 € Levent Aycicek SV Werder Bremen U19 Joseph Akpala FC Brügge 1.500.000 € OUT: Marko Marin FC Chelsea 8.000.000 € Sebastian Boenisch (unknown) Onur Ayik (unknown) Sandro Wagner Hertha BSC Tim Borowski (unknown) Tim Wiese TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Mikaël Silvestre (unknown) Naldo VfL Wolfsburg 4.800.000 € Claudio Pizarro FC Bayern München Lennart Thy FC St. Pauli Markus Rosenberg West Bromwich Albion Denni Avdic * PEC Zwolle Francois Affolter * BSC Young Boys -
1.FC Nürnberg +2.800.000 €
Grade: C
Der Club hasn’t had money for some time, so they have to make due. They cashed in on Wollschied, so they made a profit. Of the others leaving, only Didavi they wanted, and he was a loanee from Stuttgart anyway. They brought in a bunch of nobodies, so we’ll have to see if any of them pan out. If they do, their grade will go up.
IN: Noah Korczowski FC Schalke 04 U19 Timo Gebhart VfB Stuttgart 1.000.000 € Hiroshi Kiyotake Cerezo Osaka 1.000.000 € Sebastian Polter * VfL Wolfsburg 200.000 € Roussel Ngankam Hertha BSC U19 Marcos António Rapid Bukarest Christoph Sauter * VfR Aalen Felicio Brown Forbes * Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rubin Okotie * SK Sturm Graz OUT: Philipp Wollscheid Bayer 04 Leverkusen 5.000.000 € Felicio Brown Forbes 1.FC Nürnberg II Juri Judt RB Leipzig Rubin Okotie SK Sturm Graz Dominic Maroh 1.FC Köln Christoph Sauter Karlsruher SC Manuel Zeitz * SC Paderborn 07 Albert Bunjaku 1.FC Kaiserslautern Christian Eigler FC Ingolstadt 04 Julian Wießmeier * Jahn Regensburg Wilson Kamavuaka * ahn Regensburg Jens Hegeler * Bayer 04 Leverkusen Daniel Didavi * VfB Stuttgart
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim +9.450.000 €
Grade: D
Ah, for the Hopp-im-Heim of old, when Dietmar Hopp’s flowed in their cups. Well, the Hoppers are no longer the free spenders. They did put out 12 million, but still made a 10 million profit! So from an economic standpoint, they’re golden. However, the team seems weaker every year, and although they’ve brought in some high priced talent on frees (like Hildebrand, Wiese and Babel), they’ve generally flopped. They spent on an unknown Spaniard from Real Madrid’s academy, which isn’t exactly known for producing great players lately. And Derdiyok, who might be a good pick, is off to a horrible start. He sucks so much, I might have to call him “Eren Love” (you fans of Brazilian soccer know who I’m talking about!) Well, Derdiyok can probably regain his form, but Hoffenheim looks shaky at many levels.
Chris VfL Wolfsburg Ahmed Sassi TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II Takashi Usami * Gamba Osaka 300.000 € Eren Derdiyok Bayer 04 Leverkusen 5.000.000 € Matthieu Delpierre VfB Stuttgart Joseph-Claude Gyau TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II Tim Wiese SV Werder Bremen Stephan Schröck SpVgg Greuther Fürth Filip Malbasic FK Rad Belgrad 750.000 € Joselu Real Madrid Castilla 6.000.000 € Patrick Ochs * VfL Wolfsburg Kevin Volland * TSV 1860 München Michael Gregoritsch * SV Kapfenberg Jens Grahl * SC Paderborn 07 Jukka Raitala * CA Osasuna Franco Zuculini * Real Saragossa OUT: Chinedu Obasi FC Schalke 04 4.000.000 € Dominik Kaiser RB Leipzig 100.000 € Denis Thomalla TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II Gylfi Sigurdsson Tottenham Hotspur 10.000.000 € Jukka Raitala SC Heerenveen 800.000 € Franco Zuculini Real Saragossa Manuel Gulde SC Paderborn 07 Peniel Mlapa Bor. M'gladbach 2.500.000 € Andreas Ibertsberger (unknown) Daniel Haas 1.FC Union Berlin Tom Starke FC Bayern München Knowledge Musona * FC Augsburg 100.000 € Wellington (unknown) Joseph-Claude Gyau * FC St. Pauli Isaac Vorsah Red Bull Salzburg 4.000.000 € Ryan Babel Ajax Amsterdam Edson Braafheid * FC Twente Enschede Srdjan Lakic * VfL Wolfsburg
SC Freiburg -1.050.000 €
Grade: C
Freiburg has no money, so they didn’t really spend. The two players they paid for have already seen action. They didn’t have anyone really to sell.
IN: Max Kruse FC St. Pauli 750.000 € Marco Terrazzino Karlsruher SC Christian Günter SC Freiburg U19 Erich Sautner SC Freiburg II Mounir Bouziane SC Freiburg II Vegar Eggen Hedenstad Stabaek IF 500.000 € Ezequiel Calvente * Real Betis Sevilla Christian Bickel * Jahn Regensburg OUT: Oliver Barth VfR Aalen Andreas Hinkel (unknown) Simon Brandstetter * Karlsruher SC Stefan Reisinger Fortuna Düsseldorf 200.000 € Erich Sautner * Hallescher FC Christian Bickel SC Freiburg II Michael Lumb * Zenit St. Petersburg