Bayern Munich’s 10 biggest transfer sale mistakes

FT Desk

• Updated: 3 Oct 2022 18:38 CDT
• 10 min read

Bayern Munich may be six-time European champions, but they are renowned for earning their successes through great scouting and coaching as much as transfer market largesse.

Despite being one of Europe’s biggest clubs, the Bavarians have often had to outthink their rivals in the transfer market over the years.

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But that doesn’t mean Bayern never make any mistakes, and for every Lewandowski they have signed on a free, there is a Lewandowski who has left years later against the will of the club.

Football Transfers looks at 10 of the worst transfer sale mistakes Bayern have made...

10) Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - to Southampton for €14.75m in 2016

Bayern have played with a double pivot in midfield for a number of years now, with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka the incumbents in the position today, injury permitting.

However, there have been a litany of poorer players there to bulk up the squad behind them, from Corentin Tolisso to Renato Sanches - the former often injured whilte the latter once passed to an advertising billboard when on loan at Swansea.

It seems plausible that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - a semi-finalist with Denmark at Euro 2020 - might have offered more. Instead, he left for Southampton in 2016, who subsequently sold him to Tottenham Hotspur, where he has blossomed into their first pick in the middle of the park.

9) Emre Can - to Bayer Leverkusen for €5m in 2013

Emre Can made seven appearances in the Bayern first team after graduating from their academy being allowed to leave for Bayer Leverkusen in 2013.

The midfielder-turned centre-back was eager to leave in search of more first-team minutes and he found more playing time at Bayern Leverkusen, developing his game and well as his physique.

He has gone onto play for Liverpool, Juventus and then Borussia Dortmund so certainly holds a positive reputation in European football. Could Bayern be doing with him either in central defence or midfield in 2022? It wouldn't hurt.

8) Karim Adeyemi - to Unterhaching on a free transfer in 2012

Unlike most of the players on this list, Karim Adeyemi has never played for Bayern’s first team.

After leaving Bayern as a youth player, Adeyemi moved to Unterhaching and then onto RB Salzburg, where he quickly established himself as a Germany international and one of the continent’s most exciting young strikers.

Bayern were interested in re-signing the 20-year-old this summer, but instead he joined Dortmund in a €38 million deal. That money, or the player behind it, could so easily have been Bayern's.

7) Xherdan Shaqiri - to Inter Milan for €15m in 2015

Bayern may have felt a certain degree of vindication when they sold Xherdan Shaqiri to Inter in 2015 and then saw him continue onto Stoke City a year later.

However, few at the German club would have predicted how well Shaqiri would do in the Premier League, especially once he earned a subsequent move to Liverpool.

In Jurgen Klopp’s team, the Switzerland international came to embody the very idea of an impact sub, scoring eight goals and nine assists in just 2,495 minutes of football which saw him pick up a Premier League and Champions League title across his three seasons there.

Now at Chicago Fire via Lyon.

6) Michael Ballack - to Chelsea on a free transfer in 2006

Although Michael Ballack’s time at Bayern was dogged by persistent remarks from the club’s hierarchy over his performances in big games, there was no denying that the Germany international was one of the best players in the world during his four-year stint in Munich.

While some at the club may have been happy to see the back of him, allowing a player of Ballack’s quality to leave for free and join a continental rival in Chelsea was remarkably poor business from a club that often knows much better in the transfer market.

5) Mario Mandzukic - to Atletico Madrid for €22m in 2014

Unlike most players that leave Bayern, Mario Mandzukic was sold in 2014 to Atletico Madrid when he was still at the peak of his powers.

The Croatian international quickly proved that in Spain, with 20 goals and five assists in 43 games for the capital club before making a move to Juventus just one year later.

It was in Turin that Mandzukic was at his very best, winning four Serie A titles and three Italian Cups, as well as playing a pivotal role drifting in from the left as Juventus marched to two Champions League finals.

4) Lucio - to Inter for €7m in 2012

Although Lucio enjoyed plenty of success in Munich, his career probably hit new heights after he left in 2009 to join Inter.

Not only did the Brazilian defender win a Serie A title and two Italian Cups, but he also formed a defensive partnership with Walter Samuel that saw the Italian side progress all the way to the Champions League final in 2010.

As if that wasn’t proof enough of why Bayern should have never allowed him to leave, Lucio then played a leading role in Inter beating his former club in said Champions League final. Ouch.

3) Robert Lewandowski - to Barcelona for €50m in 2022

Robert Lewandowski would be first on any list of Bayern's best ever transfer in, signed on a free from Dortmund in 2013 before going on to score 344 goals in 375 games in all competitions for the club.

But after eight years, eight Bundesliga's, six top scorer canons and a Champions League, Lewandowski pushed for a change this summer and joined Barcelona.

He has since scored 12 goals in nine games in all competitions with Barca, while Bayern have been muddling through without a recognised striker.

2) Mats Hummels - to Borussia Dortmund for €4m in 2009

Although Mats Hummels technically left Bayern for Borussia Dortmund twice, his first departure in 2009 as an unused young defender was undoubtedly a severe oversight from the Munich side.

At Dortmund, Hummels forged a remarkable defensive bond with Neven Subotic as the pair formed the basis of Klopp’s all-conquering side that won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and reached the final of the Champions League.

Bayern were certainly served a large slice of humble pie when they then re-signed the Germany international in 2016 for €35m. Left for Dortmund a second time in 2019.

1) Toni Kroos - to Real Madrid for €27m in 2014

Toni Kroos emerged as one of the most talented players in German football at Bayern, but the club never fully appreciated him, with Uli Hoeness baulking at the idea that they might pay him on a par with Franck Ribery in 2014.

By this time Kroos was a World Cup winner with Germany, and one of the best midfielders in the game. While Louis van Gaal rather strangely passed up the chance to sign Kroos for Manchester United, Real Madrid were delighted to make a move.

The rest, as they say, is history. Kroos has won four Champions Leagues with Real Madrid, forming one of the most potent midfields ever seen in the game alongside Luka Modric and Casemiro.

His command over possession is second to none while his passing range is incredible. It wasn't exactly a small fee paid by Real, but even by 2014's standards, it has proved to be an absolute steal.