The biggest football clubs enjoy consistent success partly because they adapt. After the team started to look a little stale, Bayern Munich have been quick to change, with teenager Jann-Fiete Arp the latest to sign up.
Image: Imago/M. Schwarz
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The subject of rebuilding hasn't been far from the minds of German football fans since the national team's failure in Russia. Borussia Dortmund top the Bundesliga table having finally and decisively moved on from the team Jürgen Klopp built, leapfrogging an aging Bayern Munich in the process.
Like those in charge of the national team, the top brass at Bayern were a little slow to recognize that while the champions of the past – the likes of Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng, Manuel Neuer and Mats Hummels – were still good players, their peak was behind them.
It's not an unusual situation. Great teams tend to develop when a core of players of roughly the same age mature and improve together and those players will naturally also regress at a similar pace. But for some time, Bayern railed against the dying of the light. In a bizarre and furious October press conference club president Uli Hoeness, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic blasted the media for disrespecting their star men.
"When I read about Manuel Neuer then I just have no words. I would like to remind you that Manuel was world goalkeeper of the year four times,” Rummenigge said. “The same goes for Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels.”
A few months later, the need to begin the process of replacing the players that secured the club six straight Bundesliga titles and a Champions League has had accelerated despite an improvement in results, if not always performances.
Young guns taking center stage
Hamburg striker Jann-Fiete Arp is the latest to sign up to the evolution. The 19-year-old penned a deal with the Bavarians on Thursday and will join either at the end of this season or the end of next term. He follows Benjamin Pavard (23), who last month agreed a deal to move from Stuttgart at the end of the current campaign while 18-year-old Alphonso Davies has already made a couple of cameos after joining from Vancouver Whitecaps at the beginning of January.
There's already evidence that the changing of the guard is happening. Since Bayern's poor run in the autumn, Leon Goretzka (24), Serge Gnabry (23), Niklas Süle (23), Joshua Kimmich (23) and the fit-again Kingsley Coman (22) have emerged as the club's most important players, with Müller struggling for form, Boateng benched and Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery injured and winding down their contracts.
Though the season is far from a write off, coach Niko Kovac has increasingly been looking to the future, as have his bosses.
"We always need young players," said Kovac as talk of bids for Callum Hudson-Odoi swirled last month. "It is my job and the job of Hasan Salihamidzic to change the team as the team does not get any younger."
Benjamin Pavard will join Bayern Munich at the end of the seasonImage: Imago/Eibner/Thienel
He added: "If a player is good it doesn't matter how old he is. We are looking for younger talented players but also players who are ready because the young talented players need time to develop."
It may even be happening quicker than Kovac anticipated, with some of Bayern's younger stars starting to shoulder greater responsibility. Gnabry, Coman, Goretzka, Kimmich and Süle are all likely to start on Saturday evening when Bayern host Schalke with a new core emerging.
Schalke starting to recover from sorry start
The reverse fixture, last September, marked the end of Kovac's honeymoon period and the start of a difficult spell that saw them fall behind Dortmund. The champions lost to Bayer Leverkusen last time out in the Bundesliga to fall further behind after a strong run and even slipped behind Borussia Mönchengladbach in to third.
The Royal Blues come in to the game on the back of joining Bayern in the German Cup quarterfinals after a 4-1 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf but having to cope with the loss of their fondly regarded former general manager Rudi Assauer, who helped the club through difficult financial situation to win a UEFA Cup in 1997.
Salif Sane scored twice in that win and the defender said victory helped the team "clear our heads a little bit ahead of the game in Munich". It was Schalke's third win in five games, with only one defeat but the Royal Blues still sit just 12th in the table after a shocking start. Both these sides are recognizing the importance of starting again.
Bundesliga fixtures matchday 21
- Mainz vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Friday 20:30 CET)
- Borussia Dortmund vs. Hoffenheim (Saturday 15:30)
- Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Hertha Berlin
- Freiburg vs. Wolfsburg
- Hannover vs. Nuremberg
- RB Leipzig vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
- Bayern Munich vs. Schalke (Saturday 18:30)
- Werder Bremen vs. Augsburg (Sunday 15:30)
- Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Stuttgart (Sunday 18:00)
The major Bundesliga moves of the January 2019 transfer window
Christian Pulisic and Benjamin Pavard both agreed major deals as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund made their mark in the window. Elsewhere, some old favorites left the league and some promising youngsters arrived.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Seco
Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea, €64 million plus loan back)
The biggest deal of the window for Bundesliga clubs came early, when Christian Pulisic's future move to the Premier League was confirmed on January 2. The winger has fallen down the pecking order somewhat thanks to the form of Jadon Sancho but, at 20, the American has bags of potential. He'll stay with BVB until the end of the season.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Seco
Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart to Bayern Munich, €35 million plus loan back)
Little surprise in this one, with the French World Cup winner having been linked with the German champions for some time. This deal was also wrapped up early in the window and the defender will also stay with his current club until the end of 2018-19. Stuttgart are in big trouble and the versatile and classy defender remains critical to their survival hopes.
Image: Imago/Eibner/Thienel
Naldo (Schalke to Monaco, €2 million)
A center back at the other end of his career left the Bundesliga after 14 years with Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg and finally Schalke. The big, bald Brazilian made a huge impression on all three clubs, with memories of his dramatic late equalizer in the 4-4 comeback draw with rivals Dortmund still fresh in the minds of Schalke fans. Naldo won the German Cup with Bremen in 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/R. Vennenbernd
Rabbi Matondo, Manchester City to Schalke (€9 million)
The latest in a steady flow of young British players seeking their breakthrough in the Bundesliga. The rapid winger, 18, has already made his international debut for Wales, despite not featuring for City's first team. Regarded as the quickest player at the English club, ahead of the likes of Raheem Sterling, Matondo will hope to follow in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho at rivals Dortmund.
Image: picture-alliance/Pressefoto Rudel
Amadou Haidara (Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig, €19 million)
One of two players to join RB Leipzig from fellow Red Bull teams in January, the other being New York's Tyler Adams, Haidara comes highly regarded after an impressive spell in Austria. The Malian midfielder is currently injured but is a strong all round presence when fit and may be expected to fill the Naby Keita-shaped hole in Leipzig's midfield.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Kern
Leonardo Balerdi (Boca Juniors to Dortmund, €15.5 million)
The league leaders added to their defensive stocks in a surprise move for a center back who has only five senior appearances to his name. The German side were originally planning to sign Balerdi at the end of the season but decided to bring the move forward. "He's an intelligent defender, who's strong in the tackle and in the air," said BVB sporting director Michael Zorc.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Pagni
Sandro Wagner (Bayern Munich to Tianjin Teda, €5 million)
The Bayern youth product only re-signed for the club last January but the package on offer in the Chinese Super League proved too tempting for Wagner. Always a controversial figure, the 31-year-old had looked to be an ideal deputy for Robert Lewandowski but has barely seen Bundesliga action under Niko Kovac. His departure leaves the champions looking light up front.
Image: Getty Images/A. Hassenstein
Sebastian Rode (Dortmund to Eintracht Frankfurt, loan)
Another man returning to his old club, Rode left the Eagles in 2014, after four years, to join Bayern Munich on a free before moving to Borussia Dortmund two years later. Injuries hit the midfielder hard at BVB, causing him to miss the whole of last season. He's already featured more for Frankfurt in two games than he had for Dortmund in the last 18 months.
Image: picture-alliance/bild pressehaus
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Wolfsburg, released)
Another ex-Dortmund man, Blaszczykowski has won two Bundesliga titles, a German Cup and is Poland's most-capped player. The 33-year-old winger left BVB for Wolfsburg in 2016 but hasn't been able to reproduce the form that made him a favorite at Signal iduna Park. Blaszczykowski has since offered to help former club Wisla Krakow with their debts and play for the club for free.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Hangst
Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps to Bayern Munich, €10 million)
The deal for the Canadian talent to move to Bayern had been agreed in July but the 18-year-old wasn't able to arrive in Munich until January. With Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery both carrying injuries, Davies has been given a chance earlier than expected, he made his debut against Stuttgart, getting a four minute runout in a 4-1 win.
