The China Mail - Bundesliga faces reckoning as Premier League flexes 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 euros (£300 million, $446 million) 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.

- 'Playing too safe' -

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."

- 'Money' -

As Europe's largest nation and a traditional football powerhouse, some view the rivers of Premier League gold as an opportunity.

This summer, Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Stuttgart each sold at least one player to the Premier League for a fee of more than 50 million euros.

Rolfes said the "key factor in offsetting the Premier League's economic advantage" was the "professionalisation of youth academy programmes".

The wealth available has the potential to change a German club's fortunes.

In 2024, Porsche paid 100 million euros to take a minority stake in Stuttgart, providing the side with financial security. Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League in 2024, the first time in 15 years, and won the German Cup a season later.

In August, Stuttgart received 85 million euros for Woltemade, who arrived on a free a season earlier.

One of Europe's biggest clubs, even Bayern have not escaped the ripple effects. Despite courting Wirtz and Woltemade, both players moved to the Premier League.

Earlier this season, Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said "certain things weren't possible during the transfer window because we want to be very financially prudent."

Asked at a press conference on Friday to assess the appeal of the Premier League this transfer window, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany gave a one-word answer: "money".

In Germany, Bayern's woes are unlikely to win them too much sympathy. The growing financial might of the Premier League presents a real challenge to Bayern's status as the league's apex predators.

Winners of 34 German titles -- no other side has hit double figures -- Bayern have built their success on the back of plucking their rivals' best, particularly in recent seasons.

This summer shows competition from the Premier League is making that more difficult.

R.Yeung--ThChM