We’ve ranked every Bundesliga signing from Premier League clubs from the summer of 2022 (every single one would be quite ridiculous), with new boys Xavi Simons, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike soon to be added.
Oh, and Newcastle United-bound Nick Woltemade…
The question is: Is Bundesliga tax real? The standard certainly seems to be improving, thanks in part to players like Omar Marmoush. Ekitike will be hoping he’s more Marmoush than Jadon Sancho.
57) Jean-Kevin Augustin (Leeds)
Arguably the worst transfer of all time, this one.
Leeds signed Augustin on loan when they were in the Championship, including an obligation to buy if they were promoted. They were promoted, but due to the Covid pandemic, not until June, which was apparently past the deadline for meeting that obligation. They tried to wiggle their way out of paying the transfer fee but this one went to court, which did not go Leeds’ way.
They ended up paying £40million for a player who played 48 minutes for them. Big yikes.
MORE: Transfer rumour power ranking: Liverpool eye England star as Mbeumo race tightens…
56) Jadon Sancho (Manchester United)
After being chased by United for over a year, Sancho became a shell of the man who notched 89 goal contributions for Borussia Dortmund.
Sancho spent last season on loan at Chelsea, who paid a £5m fee to avoid signing him permanently. Not ideal.
55) Giovanni Reyna (Nottingham Forest)
Forest signed Reyna on loan for the second half of 2023/24 and he didn’t do much at all.
54) Ozan Kabak (Norwich)
After an underwhelming loan spell with Liverpool (more on that soon) Kabak managed to get another bite at the Premier League cherry. This time around, he helped Norwich get relegated.
53) Milot Rashica (Norwich)
Norwich signed Kosovan forward Rashica in the same summer they brought in Kabak on loan. He joined after a decent spell at Werder Bremen, but he could not adapt to life in England and joined Galatasaray on loan in September 2022 and permanently a year later after making four Championship appearances. In the Premier League, Rashica scored once in 31 matches.
52) Kevin Mbabu (Fulham)
This was a bizarre one. Fulham signed Mbabu for a measly £4m and barely played him.
51) Naouirou Ahamada (Crystal Palace)
We are not convinced this guy actually exists. He somehow has 31 appearances for Palace.
50) Sasa Kalajdzic (Wolves)
You have to sympathise with the big Austrian, who has been injured for the vast majority of his Wolves career. Yes, he’s still there.
49) Omar Richards (Nottingham Forest)
Richards spent last term on loan at sister club Rio Ave and has made zero appearances for Forest.
48) Wout Weghorst (Burnley)
For a while, Burnley couldn’t be relegated. It was impossible. Their survival was inevitable. That was until big Wout Weghorst came along. Two goals in 20 league matches succumbed the Clarets to a year in the Championship. Twelve million quid the big Dutchman cost them.
47) Ozan Kabak (Liverpool)
Kabak received more laughs than praise during his time at Anfield.
46) Mahmoud Dahoud (Brighton)
A free transfer many had big expectations of, Dahoud struggled in his six months in the Premier League before being loaned out to Stuttgart. He was sold to Eintracht Frankfurt last summer.
45) Eric da Silva Moreira (Nottingham Forest)
Moreira is only 19 years old and played nine times for Forest last season.
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44) Ademola Lookman (Fulham)
Lookman, like Kabak, features twice on this list. Also like the Turkish defender, both transfers from the Bundesliga were loans. The winger didn’t do much for Fulham and cost them a loan fee, whereas he did not for Leicester and had a more memorable spell at the King Power, which is why this move ranks a bit lower.
His incredible exploits at Atalanta make both moves look even worse.
43) Niclas Fullkrug (West Ham)
Fullkrug is a terrific Bundesliga striker but simply not suited to the Premier League. That doesn’t stop him from being the most West Ham signing West Ham have ever made.
42) Orel Mangala (Nottingham Forest)
Mangala joined from Stuttgart and managed two goal contributions in 27 league matches in 2022/23. Forest got themselves out of a PSR pickle by selling him to Lyon, who gave him to Everton for the season.
41) Ademola Lookman (Leicester)
Spent 2021/22 with Leicester before returning to Atalanta. Lookman scored six in 26 Premier League games.
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40) Moussa Diaby (Aston Villa)
After an underwhelming debut season, Diaby jetted off to the Saudi Arabian sunset.
Diaby joined with high expectations and started well before being outshone by and dropped thanks to the form of another former Bayer Leverkusen player in Leon Bailey.
39) Jordan Beyer (Burnley)
Burnley bought Beyer from Borussia Monchengladbach after a solid season on loan, helping them earn promotion up to the Premier League. The jump was too big for most at Turf Moor, including near enough all of their new signings.
38) Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton)
The young German impressed us early on after making the move from Vfl Bochum. After a strong start, the wheels fell off the Southampton bus and they were relegated. That early promise was premature.
37) Georginio Rutter (Leeds)
His Championship form was excellent but not enough to get Leeds promoted. His signing in January 2023 was a big mistake in their bid to stay up. Brighton signed the Frenchman last summer and he is doing pretty well down south.
36) Marc Roca (Leeds)
Struggled whenever he didn’t have Tyler Adams next to him and could not adapt to the physicality of Our League. Roca is decent enough on the ball and probably did just about enough to justify the £8m Leeds paid to sign him.
35) Jacob Bruun Larsen (Burnley)
Larsen scored seven goals in 36 Burnley matches during his one-year loan from Hoffenheim. Not bad.
34) Konstantinos Mavropanos (West Ham)
Superb for Stuttgart, average at best and arguably getting worse for West Ham.
33) Josh Sargent (Norwich)
American international Sargent would be next to Rashica on this list if it wasn’t for some decent Championship form in a dysfunctional team. Norwich went down in 2021/22 as Sargent scored two in 26 Premier League appearances, both of which came in the same game. He has scored 44 in 98 in the second tier.
32) Timo Werner (Chelsea)
The huge £50m fee Chelsea paid to sign Werner was a huge waste of money.
31) Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea)
This guy joined with huge expectations and for a respectable £51m but injuries made his debut season hard to judge. When fully fit, he can’t get in the starting XI over Nicolas Jackson. Expected to leave this summer.
30) Donyell Malen (Aston Villa)
Malen cost Villa a little over £21m in January and instantly upset him by signing Marcus Rashford and including him in their Champions League squad over the Dutchman. Next season should be more joyous.
29) Wataru Endo (Liverpool)
Hard to knock £15m for a player of Endo’s quality; he is a solid rotational option.
28) Leon Bailey (Aston Villa)
Signed from Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen for a cool £25m in 2021, Bailey failed to hit the heights expected of him in his first year for Villa. We said ‘2023/24 is his last chance to prove himself at Villa Park’ and he did just that. Bailey was fantastic. But he’s now reportedly surplus to requirements.
27) Robin Koch (Leeds)
Koch is decent in the air, comfortable on the ball, versatile, rarely injured, but not the most convincing defender in the world.
26) Mathys Tel (Tottenham)
His six months on loan at Spurs was pretty disappointing, but then Spurs were historically s**t. They recently signed him permanently from Bayern.
25) Matthijs de Ligt (Manchester United)
We don’t think De Ligt was that bad for Man United last season. He did have a mad few minutes at Anfield, mind.
24) Mark Flekken (Brentford)
Flekken was fine for Brentford. Not outstanding but not bad by any stretch. He made the most saves across Europe’s top five leagues last season.
23) Brajan Gruda (Brighton)
Brighton paid £25m for the young German, who is beginning to show why on a more frequent basis.
22) Marcel Sabitzer (Manchester United)
Signed on loan for the second half of 22/23, Sabitzer filled a gap for Erik ten Hag and barely put a foot wrong. His form at Borussia Dortmund and for Austria at Euro 2024 will have been hard for Man Utd to stomach. They could have had him for £15m!
21) Tyler Adams (Leeds)
Leeds made some questionable signings before their relegation season, but Tyler Adams was a brilliant one. For every Brenden Aaronson, there is an Adams and Willy Gnonto, as the famous saying goes.
The American international left for Bournemouth after his single year at Leeds made it clear that he is far too good for the Championship.
20) Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest)
One of 400 signings made by Nottingham Forest before 2022/23, Niakhate left Mainz – where he was captain – to take on his first challenge in England.
Niakhate was pretty solid for Forest but not a £27m player, we don’t think. That is what they got for him from Lyon, making it £47m in total for him and Mangala. Good going, that. Especially when you consider Niakhate only cost Forest around £8m.
19) Chris Richards (Crystal Palace)
Richards joined Palace for around £10m in July 2022 and has been pretty solid whenever called upon.
18) Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United)
We still can’t believe Man United made a good decision in the transfer market.
17) Kevin Schade (Brentford)
Brentford paid around £20m to sign the 23-year-old from Freiburg and after a difficult spell with injuries, Schade has kicked on. He recorded 11 goals and two assists in the Premier League last term.
16) Demarai Gray (Everton)
Everton got Gray for a measly £1.5m and he did not live up to that price tag. In a good way, this time.
15) Kai Havertz (Chelsea)
Struggled when he joined, then scored the winning goal in a Champions League final, became even worse, but left for £65m. That goal and the fact Chelsea recouped the vast majority of the £72m for Havertz sees him as high as 15th.
14) Hee-chan Hwang (Wolves)
You know what you will get from Hwang, but he has been poor for too long now and drops down here.
13) Stefan Ortega (Manchester City)
City landed Ortega on a free transfer in the summer of 2022. As far as back-up goalkeepers go, the German is one of the best in the world.
12) Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
Szoboszlai was really disappointing before Arne Slot came along. He was crucial in Liverpool’s Premier League title win. But he now has the most expensive attacking midfielder of all time to compete for a starting spot with.
11) Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest)
“Taiwo Awoniyi will score two league goals all season”. That is what this idiot said in our 2022/23 pre-season predictions.
Awoniyi proved me wrong, scoring a very respectable 10 in 27. Six of those came in the last four Premier League matches of the season and went a very long way to keeping Forest in the top flight. In those final four fixtures, without former Union Berlin striker Awoniyi’s goals, the Reds would have got one point. They hugely benefited from his goals and picked up eight from a possible 12.
Those goals are the reason why Forest will play in Europe next season and not the Championship.
10) Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace)
Replacing Joachim Andersen was always going to be difficult but Palace have done exceptionally well with Lacroix. He makes losing Marc Guehi a little less scary.
9) Thiago (Liverpool)
Thiago was an outstanding technician and has decided to call it a day on his playing career last summer after another year riddled with injuries.
Despite his fitness issues, Thiago was still a good signing; especially considering the Reds only paid £20m to sign him from Bayern Munich.
8) Manuel Akanji (Manchester City)
Nobody really expected much from Akanji when he joined from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund but he quickly proved he is a top player.
The Swiss international has played superbly as a central defender and even more impressively as a full-back.
7) Omar Marmoush (Manchester City)
It’s early days, but Marmoush looks like a very special player.
6) Micky van de Ven (Tottenham)
Van de Ven’s pace is frightening. He can defend as well, which helps. Those hamstrings though…
5) Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)
Mateta cost close to £10m in January 2022 and took a while to get going, but when he did, bloody hell, he has been difficult to stop.
He is loving life under Oliver Glasner, finishing the 23/24 season with 16 league goals after scoring two in his first 19 appearances in 22/23 and eight in 77 in total. He then bagged 14 in 24/25 and helped Palace win the FA Cup.
4) Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool)
Like Thiago, Konate does have his injury troubles. Nevertheless, when he is fit Konate forms a terrific partnership with Virgil van Dijk. £36m = bargain.
3) Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City)
Big, big money for Gvardiol (£77m) but he will be worth it in the long run.
2) Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)
Liverpool wanted Martin Zubimendi last summer and after failing to convince him to leave Real Sociedad, they stuck with Gravenberch. He quickly blossomed into one of the best deep-lying midfielders in Europe. His level of consistency and availability gives him the edge over Konate.
1) Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
City should do business with Dortmund more often. Akanji has been excellent, Ilkay Gundogan’s £21m move in 2016 turned out to be one of the best signings in the club’s history, and Haaland has been…ridiculously impressive.
Signed to win City the Champions League, he did just that at the first attempt as his new team completed the Treble. A whopping 52 goals in 53 games in his debut season was a simply outrageous return.
He now has one of the biggest contracts in world football after City tied him down for 115 months. Cheeky.
👉 The ridiculous stats of Erling Haaland: 80 Premier League goals at 21 Premier League grounds
