It would be somewhat of an understatement to say that Erling Haaland has been a resounding success since arriving in the Premier League. He’s been a smash hit that shows no sign of stopping. Far from a one-hit wonder, he’s going to be more Spice Girls than Gotye but his arrival from Germany has proved to be the latest successful Manchester City signing from the Bundesliga.
The Citizens have seemingly bucked the Premier League trend when it comes to new arrivals from Germany’s top division. For many, it has been seen as a safe bet to bring in signings from a league that boasts immense quality and is stylistically fairly similar to English football. Haaland is a freak of nature, but City have previous when it comes to plucking gems out of Germany.
Kevin de Bruyne is the most obvious name but it is easy to remember how written off he was when he arrived in Manchester for £68m. Paul Merson had a field day as he called the signing an ‘absolute joke’, but those words have come back to bite him, and De Bruyne is now the finest midfielder in the world.
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He came way after Nigel De Jong joined as part of the City revolution in 2009 from Hamburg, and the £18m the newly-rich northerners spent on the Dutchman proved to be a shrewd signing as across three seasons he played a vital role in an FA Cup triumph and their first Premier League title in 2012. It was in fact De Jong who picked up the ball and played it into Sergio Aguero, seconds before he scored that famous 93:20 goal.
Former Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko was a smash hit across his four seasons in England, Ilkay Gundogan is still producing the goods at the very highest level after he joined in 2016 and Leroy Sane may not longer be with Pep Guardiola’s team but was excellent at the Etihad, and is now producing at Bayern Munich.
There have been so many Bundesliga hits for City and this summer they brought in Manuel Akanji, who could be the next one in line for a successful stint at the Etihad. But this hasn’t been the case for the rest of the Premier League clubs as stars from Germany’s top flight have often failed to deliver on these shores.
Chelsea have suffered the most when it comes to big time flops. Timo Werner was a goalscoring sensation at RB Leipzig but became the reincarnation of Fernando Torres (Chelsea edition) after his £47m move. It didn’t come as a surprise when the Blues cut their losses and shipped him back to Germany this summer.
Kai Havertz has hardly been a resounding success despite scoring the winner in a Champions League final while the less said about Christian Pulisic’s spell at Stamford Bridge, the better. That’s £170m worth of talent that has barely made a mark in the Premier League.
Chelsea aren’t alone in struggling to find reliable players that are able to make this transition look simple. In one season, Sebastien Haller scored 15 in 29 Bundesliga matches which convinced West Ham to spend a club record £45m on him. Just two years and ten goals later he was sold to Ajax and instantly began to produce again on the continent.
Although Liverpool have enjoyed the delights of Roberto Firmino, Ibrahima Konate and Thiago from the Bundesliga, they have been slightly stung by the £54m they spent on Naby Keita. Meanwhile, Manchester United are still waiting to see the best of £72m man Jadon Sancho and Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan produced mixed results from their recent past.
Heung-min Son was the outright market leader in this category before Haaland arrived, but Leon Bailey hasn’t quite lived up to expectation at Aston Villa. Jean-Philippe Gbamin was a disaster at Everton and is still out on loan even though the club spent £25m to bring him in from Mainz.
Big money has been spent across the board on these Bundesliga players and it seems to be a mixed bag when it comes to return on investment. Only Man City have consistently gained major rewards from the Bundesliga without any major flops.
For a country that plays host to so many global stars, it is a slight anomaly that so many struggle to make the grade in the Premier League. In recent years, perhaps that can be put down to the rapid progression of England’s top flight and Chelsea’s scattergun transfer policy, but the Bundesliga boys need to produce before the Brits look elsewhere.
