Bundesliga banks on bargain buys in winter sales

By Morten Ritter Jan 31, 2012, 15:35 GMT

Dusseldorf, Germany - Wolfsburg allowed striker Srdhan Lakic to go to Hoffenheim Tuesday to stay the busiest Bundesliga club in the winter transfer period right up until the final whistle.

As the transfer deadline closed, Wolfsburg coach and manager Felix Magath could look back on a spending spree of 29 million euros (38 million dollars) for eight new players as he tries to give the lacklustre Wolves their bite back.

'We have increased the quality which is why I am certain that we will work our way forward,' Magath said.

In all, Bundesliga clubs have invested almost 50 million euros for players during the winter transfer window, taking total spending to some 200 million euros since the start of the season.

The most expensive signing was Swiss left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, who moved from Zurich to Wolfsburg for 7.5 million euros, but it has generally been a quiet period, with clubs chiefly on the look-out for bargain buys.

Clubs have also often preferred loan deals, as underlined by the arrival of three Croatians on the final day: Lakic's move to Hoffenheim, Leverkusen's signing of right-back Vedran Corluka from Tottenham and Freiburg's move for striker Ivan Santini from NK Zadar.

If German football observers were hoping for a spectacular finale to the sales, they would have been disappointed.

Michael Ballack may have been a candidate for a move after reportedly falling out with Bayer Leverkusen, but the former Germany captain wants to fulfil his contract until the end of the season.

The first-division clubs spent 48.29 million euros for players between January 1 and 31, while receiving 28.39 million euros for sales.

The biggest transfer was Freiburg's 12-million-euro deal with Newcastle United for striker Papiss Demba Cisse. Freiburg, bottom of the Bundesliga, have in returned acquired five players, however for less than 1 million in total.

At the top of the table though it has been all quiet on the spending front. Neither wealthy league leaders Bayern Munich nor champions Borussia Dortmund have entered the market.

Dortmund had, however, already sealed the transfer of Marco Reus from Borussia Moenchengladbach for 17.1 million euros for the end of the season.

Two of the biggest transfers were within the Bundesliga, with Bayer Leverkusen paying VfB Stuttgart 7.5 million euros for keeper Bernd Leno, while Stuttgart forked out 5 million euros for Hoffenheim striker Vedad Ibisevic.