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Bundesliga exodus to Premier League teams?

By Jonathan Northall

ST ALBANS, ENGLAND - MAY 20: Arsenal new signing Granit Xhaka at London Colney on May 20, 2016 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
ST ALBANS, ENGLAND - MAY 20: Arsenal new signing Granit Xhaka at London Colney on May 20, 2016 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) /
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Several Bundesliga stars have already been sold to Premier League teams. Rumors that this trend will continue are growing. Who else is leaving Germany?

Premier League clubs have already spent almost £60 million on players from Bundesliga teams. Granit Xhaka and Ilkay Gündoğan highlight the quality of player that is leaving Germany for top flight football in England.  The new Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, having spent two years at Bayern Munich, and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp are aware of the potential value to be gained by going back to the Bundesliga to aid their team rebuilds.

Deals so far:

Granit Xhaka – Borussia Moenchengladbach to Arsenal -£30m

Ron-Robert Zieler – Hannover 96 to Leicester City – Undisclosed (contract clause at £2.6m)

Loris Karius – Mainz to Liverpool – £4.7m

Joel Matip – Schalke 04 to Liverpool – Free

Ilkay Gündoğan – Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City – £21m

Havard Norveidt – Borussia Moenchengladbach to West Ham United – Free Transfer

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It must be a worrying trend for the boards of Bundesliga clubs as the Premier League has become a far more enticing prospect, financially at the very least, than German football.  If there is any substance in the transfer rumors, the movement of Bundesliga players to England is far from over. Borussia Dortmund are being particularly targeted as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are constantly courted by the Premier League big boys. Bayern Munich are not isolated from this, as speculation grows around Polish striker Robert Lewandowski. Other rumors include:

Julian Draxler – Wolfsburg

Julian Draxler of Germany during the UEFA EURO 2016 Group C match between Germany and Poland on June 16, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Nolwenn Le Gouic/Icon Sport) (Photo by Nolwenn Le Gouic/Icon Sport via Getty Images)
Julian Draxler of Germany during the UEFA EURO 2016 Group C match between Germany and Poland on June 16, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Nolwenn Le Gouic/Icon Sport) (Photo by Nolwenn Le Gouic/Icon Sport via Getty Images) /

Still only 22 years old, attacking midfielder Draxler has drawn the interest of Manchester United. Mourinho is keen to land the German international and the appeal of Old Trafford could prize him away. Leaving Schalke for Wolfsburg, the move has not been as fruitful as Draxler would have liked. The Theatre of Dreams could be the springboard that the German is looking for on the domestic stage.

Leroy Sané – Schalke 04

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY – MAY 07: Leroy Sane of Schalke gets past the tackle from Koo Ja-cheol of FC Augsburg during the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and FC Augsburg held at Veltins-Arena on May 7, 2016 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Bongarts/Getty Images)
GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY – MAY 07: Leroy Sane of Schalke gets past the tackle from Koo Ja-cheol of FC Augsburg during the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and FC Augsburg held at Veltins-Arena on May 7, 2016 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Bongarts/Getty Images) /

Another attacking midfielder, the 20-year-old Sané is wanted by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Not only is Das Wunderkind  being chased by City, rumors of Manchester United and Bayern Munich considering bids are also putting pressure on the player. As if that was not enough, Sané was selected for the German Euro 2016 squad over the injured Marco Reus.

Mario Götze – Bayern Munich

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany (L) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Thomas Mueller during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany (L) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Thomas Mueller during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) /

Two years ago, Götze scored the winning goal in the World Cup Final for Germany. Now the 24-year-old is being told by Bayern that his opportunities are limited at the Allianz Arena.  One team looking to rescue Götze is Arsenal. Having signed Xhaka for £30m, Arsene Wenger is not done yet. Despite having a mediocre Euro 2016 tournament so far, Gotze is rumored to be a target for the Arsenal manager.

The Bundesliga will be a weaker league next season because of the loss of the quality of players destined for the Premier League. Teams like Borussia Dortmund will be particularly weakened by the losses of players to English teams. Last season, the Premier League had a makeup of 65 percent of foreign players compared to the Bundesliga’s 49 percent. The disparity between the two percentages will increase before the transfer window closes.

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