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The German Bundesliga has kicked off for yet another season. Last season, eventual champions Bayern Munich struggled a lot till Christmas. But then a change in manager also coincided with a change in fortunes for the club.
In 2020, Bayern barely ever dropped points as they ran off with the Bundesliga and won the Champions League. Dortmund will feel that they missed yet another chance to win back the Bundesliga title.
RP Leipzig will have gained confidence from their deep run in the Champions League and will be looking to improve their 3rd place finish in the Bundesliga last season. They currently lead the standings with 3 wins in 3 games.
Bayern started this year's Bundesliga with a bang, beating Schalke 8-0 but then strumbled, losing 4-1 to Hoffenheim and only winning 4-3 against Hertha.
We look at the transfer activity of the Bundesliga giants in this year's transfer window.
Bayern Munich - Bayern made as many as 4 signings during the last two days of the window. They signed Spanish midfielder Marc Roca, who will function as a like for like replacement for Thiago Alcantara. They also signed Douglas Costa on loan once again, to provide depth on the wings.
Marseille RB Bouna Sarr was also signed to provide depth in the fullback position. However, the most perplexing transfer was that of Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting. The striker looked out of place at PSG and coming to Bayern doesn't seem to have improved things for the player.
However, there were some positive signings too. Two promising players, Nubel from Schalke and Tanguy Nianzou from PSG signed with Bayern Munich. But the biggest signing was definitely that of Leroy Sane.
The Bavarians were after the German winger for some time now and managed to sign him at a reduced price. However, the departures of Thiago and young Michael Cuisance might hurt the club.
Borussia Dortmund - Dortmund's biggest win of the window will be keeping Jadon Sancho. The Englishman was the subject of a summer-long saga with Manchester United but Dortmund refused to sell the player as their demands were not met.
Instead, they strengthened their midfield, signing Emre Can permanently and bringing in Jude Bellingham, the 17-year-old from Birmingham City whom United had courted earlier.
Achraf Hakimi leaving the club after his loan spell will have hurt but Dortmund have managed to replace him with the experienced Thomas Meunier from PSG.
The club will now be dependent on their very impressive nucleus of young players, headed by the outstanding Sancho to challenge for the Bundesliga title. Sancho will be ably supported by the likes of Erling Haaland, Giovanni Reyna, and Bellingham, all of whom have looked fantastic so far this season.
RB Leipzig - RB Leipzig, to the dismay of a lot of football fans, has quickly climbed up the footballing ladder and have established themselves as the third best club in the Bundesliga.
Last season, they went deep into the Champions League, losing to eventual runners-up PSG in the semis. This season, though, they will have to deal with losing their best player in Timo Werner to Chelsea.
Leipzig signed Hwang Hee-Chan from Salzburg to replace Werner and also signed Alexander Sorloth to replace Patrick Schick, who signed for Bayer Leverkusen this year. They also brought in Justin Kluivert and Benjamin Henrichs on loan to strengthen the squad.
Bayer Leverkusen also lost important players in the form of Kai Havertz and Kevin Volland and signed Schick as a replacement. Borussia Monchengladbach's big signing was the loan arrival of wingback Valentino Lazaro.
