MUNICH, Germany -Bundesliga clubs are struggling to keep hold of their best players due to the financial strength of the Premier League, Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said on Friday, with English teams benefiting from a huge amount of TV revenue.
The Bundesliga has had top players snapped up by Premier League clubs in the close season, including Jeremie Frimpong, who joined former Bayer Leverkusen teammate Florian Wirtz at Liverpool, Benjamin Sesko, who moved to Manchester United, and Hugo Ekitike among others.
Bayern Munich’s major transfer target Nick Woltemade could soon join them in England’s top flight, with the VfB Stuttgart striker reportedly close to a deal with Newcastle United.
“Money?,” Kompany told a press conference when asked about what triggered the latest exodus of top Bundesliga players.
“The truth is I remember going with Burnley to the Premier League. All of a sudden you have TV money coming in and it’s 100 million (pounds) for promoted teams.”
Kompany, currently in his second season at Bayern, led Burnley to the Premier League in 2023 after winning promotion.
“So you go from a budget of 20-25 million to 120 or 130 million which in the Bundesliga you would compete with the top six, top eight,” he said.
German clubs in the top two divisions will share just over one billion euros a year under a new deal for the next four years. Premier League clubs alone will share more than three times that amount per year.
“When Sunderland is buying players they are buying from Leverkusen and they are competing with AC Milan,” Kompany said. “That’s the financial reality. It is the nature of what they have been able to develop over many years, especially with the TV money.”
The coach said it was up to the Bundesliga to find ways to keep their best players.
“It is a debate for the Bundesliga to find a way to remain competitive,” Kompany said. “All the players going to the Premier League it is not that they had 5-6 years of being top players in the Bundesliga. They had one or two years. So we will have new players coming.
“There won’t be a lack of quality but to keep the best players, it is a German Bundesliga discussion.”
