Winter Transfer wrap up

Of course it’s way to early to say winners and losers, since who knows how these deals are going to turn out. Obviously, it was VfL Wolfsburg that most folks will be watching. Clearly, the VWs were not on the correct path, and boss Felix Magath is not one to worry about spending other people’s money. In this case, he plunked down 30 million euros, bringing in 8 new players. Probably generating the most interest in Swiss international defender Ricardo Rodriguez (19), who cost 8.5 million. If he’s as good as is claimed, this could be a great move. And of course, Magath is famous for his dog house, and 6 players got their marching orders.

If it weren’t for Wolfsburg, you’d have to say that it was a relatively quiet transfer window. SC Freiburg cashed in on Papiss Demba Cissé, picking up a cool 12 million that will stand them well in next year’s 2.Liga campaign (hehehe). They really had no choice, since he was going to leave. But at least SCF can say they got their money’s worth, since they originally bought him from French side FC Metz for 1.5 million in 2009.

Hoffenheim has been an interesting story. After buying their way into the Bundesliga with Dietmar Hopp’s millions, they’ve really shed all those high priced stars. They’re probably still strong enough to hold on this season, but relegation looks in their future. Schalke seems to have made a good deal, as they picked up Chinedu Obasi on loan for peanuts, and he looked good in his first couple of matches. I imagine that Schalke will purchase him outright from the Hoppers if he continues…as they’ll have to worry about whether they can keep Jefferson Farfan. With Vedad Ibisevic leaving for Stuttgart, the Hoppers have almost none of their big euro players left. One who semi-remains is Brazilian flop Wellington, who got loaned out again, his ninth loan in 5 years. I think Hoffenheim acquired him for 5 million, but he’s hardly ever played for them.

Leverkusen did a bit of good business getting GK Bernd Leno, but he was already on loan to the Aspirins from Stuttgart. Buying him direct meant a nice piece of cash for Stuttgart and a potential GK rivalry at Bayer if Rene Adler recovers from his injury.

Most teams did little, so it will be hard to say if their are winners or losers. Obviously Wolfsburg is the big one. Oddly enough, although many expected some moves, Bayern München actually made no moves at all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *