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Oliver Kahn is no less terrifying in a business suit than he was in the goalkeeping kit of Bayern Munich. Standing tall at 6ft 2 and with a wing span to match it, the incoming CEO of Germany’s biggest club rarely struggles to get his point across when tasked with answering questions in front of a pack of reporters or the studio lights.
When Kahn talks, Bayern fans tend to listen. And in an interview with German broadcaster Sport1 just a few days before the all-English Champions League final, the former shot-stopper laid bare some economic truths about Bayern’s struggles to keep up with the power and dominance of English football.
“Whoever will be able to add to it is the English,” muttered Kahn when asked if any of Europe’s top clubs will be immune from the financial impact of the pandemic. “They had €2.7 billion in television revenue. We in the Bundesliga had €1.3 billion. This gap will remain the same for the time being.”
Khan quickly corrected course and reassured fans of the Munich side that the club would continue to compete thanks to their “winning culture” but his warning was as true as it was stark. While Manchester City and Chelsea battled it out for Europe’s crown on Saturday night, German football’s biggest clubs were drawing up contingency plans to get through the summer transfer window in one piece. It is a fear of an era of English dominance reflected across Europe.
Bayern, to their credit, have tried to compensate for a €100 million deficit by getting their summer business out of the way as quickly as possible. Rather than get dragged into an off-season bidding war with Premier League rivals for defensive target Dayot Upamecano, the Munich side bought out the French talent’s minimum-fee release clause in early February and rushed his agent to their offices to conclude the deal.
Such was the speed of Bayern’s movement that sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic confirmed the deal was signed and sealed on live TV before Upamecano’s club, RB Leipzig, even had a chance to find out for themselves. And the Bavarian giants didn’t stop there.
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When Hansi Flick announced his intention to step down as head coach at the end of the season, it took Bayern just 10 days to identify, negotiate and then confirm the future German national team manager’s successor would be Julian Nagelsmann. Similarly, new signing Omar Richards from Reading, officially joined the club this week on a free transfer after agreeing terms months ago.
However, it won’t all be clear sailing for the German champions. While they may have signed two new defenders, they’ve had to bid farewell to three, as David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez have all left the club. The former was tempted away by higher wages at Real Madrid, while the latter two, somewhat surprisingly, were never offered contract extensions despite their previous success and standing within the club.
Despite Bayern’s careful planning, the club still have to fill a Thiago Alcantara-shaped hole in midfield from last summer and desperately need a new right-back. But any solutions to those problems will have to come from thrifty solutions. “There will be no big transfers,” confirmed honorary president Uli Hoeness this week. “You can forget that.”
Indeed, if Bayern are able to get by with careful planning then their nearest rivals, Borussia Dortmund, are just slightly behind them with simple hopes of limiting the damage that will be caused in the summer window.
“Even against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic situation, no one has to worry about Borussia Dortmund’s existence,” confirmed club president Reinhard Raubal to ease concerns after financial results for the first half of the year pointed to a €26.3 million loss. Dortmund aren’t in perilous financial trouble but the club will be severely limited in what it can do next season.
Rather than entertain the idea of an influx of new players, Dortmund will instead batten down the hatches and do their best to keep a hold of the remarkable talent they already have within their ranks.
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In Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, the club have two stars that could net significant profits but Dortmund would seemingly prefer to keep the former at all costs and only sell the latter for the right price, rather than rip up another team just for the sake of posting healthier financial numbers.
“We do not have to sell a player. That is important,” confirmed chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke in an interview with the BBC last month. “The rich clubs in the world, they must know when they want a player from Borussia Dortmund there are two possibilities. The first is that I tell them they have no chance. Other times, I will tell them ‘this is the price’.”
Rather than make a courageous charge for the Champions League next season, it seems far more likely that the largest fee Dortmund will spend in 2021 will be the €5 million compensation fee Dortmund had to pay Borussia Mönchengladbach for new head coach Marco Rose in February.
The only German club that may have the capital to challenge English dominance in the transfer market are RB Leipzig, who will not only have the backing of their Red Bull owners but also an unexpected influx of cash from selling key players and their own head coach.
Upamecano and Nagelsmann were joined in the departure lounge by Ibrahima Konate this week, when the young defender made his expected move to Liverpool. Together, the three individuals have netted Leipzig at least €100 million in sales over the last four months, which the Saxony club will undoubtedly invest back into the team under new head coach Jesse Marsch. Yet there’s no doubt that the “plastikklub” will be starting from scratch and a risky transition period awaits them next season.
The Bundesliga is in better financial shape than most European divisions, but even they will struggle to challenge the economic might the Premier League showcased in the Champions League final.