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Grading Bayern Munich’s transfer window

Nairavoice · Sep 2, 2026 · 4 min read

Bayern Munich’s transfer business has wrapped up for the summer, although late movement is technically still possible to a country where the transfer window has not yet closed.

How did the Bavarians do? Let’s review the action, with prices as quoted by Transfermarkt:

AM/CF Ismael Saibari (PSV — €50M)
LB/FLEX Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt — €50M)
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CM Bara Sapoko Ndiaye (Gambinos Stars — €3.5M)

AM/CF Ismael Saibari (PSV — €50M)

LB/FLEX Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt — €50M)

CM Bara Sapoko Ndiaye (Gambinos Stars — €3.5M)

GK Daniel Peretz (Southampton — €8M)
GK Alexander Nübel (Beşiktaş — €6.25M)
CB Ljubo Puljić (Atalanta — €2.8M)
LB/CM Raphäel Guerreiro (End of contract)
CM Leon Goretzka (Aston Villa — End of contract)
CM João Palhinha (Benfica — €14M)
CM Noël Aséko (Eintracht Frankfurt — €12M)
FW Lovro Zvonarek (Estrela Amadora — €1.5M)
FW Maurice Kattenmacher (Elversberg — €2M)
FW Jonah Kusi-Asare (Fulham — €6M)
FW Jonathan Asp Jensen (Deportivo — €6M)
FW Wisdom Mike (Club Brugge — €5M)
FW Armindo Sieb (LAFC — €500K)
FW Arijon Ibrahimović (FC Augsburg — Loan)
FW Bryan Zaragoza (Espanyol — Loan)
FW Felipe Chávez (Magdeburg — Loan)
FW Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea — End of loan)
To watch: RB Sacha Boey (Türkiye’s transfer window closes Sept. 4)

GK Daniel Peretz (Southampton — €8M)

GK Alexander Nübel (Beşiktaş — €6.25M)

CB Ljubo Puljić (Atalanta — €2.8M)

LB/CM Raphäel Guerreiro (End of contract)

CM Leon Goretzka (Aston Villa — End of contract)

CM João Palhinha (Benfica — €14M)

CM Noël Aséko (Eintracht Frankfurt — €12M)

FW Lovro Zvonarek (Estrela Amadora — €1.5M)

FW Maurice Kattenmacher (Elversberg — €2M)

FW Jonah Kusi-Asare (Fulham — €6M)

FW Jonathan Asp Jensen (Deportivo — €6M)

FW Wisdom Mike (Club Brugge — €5M)

FW Arijon Ibrahimović (FC Augsburg — Loan)

FW Bryan Zaragoza (Espanyol — Loan)

FW Felipe Chávez (Magdeburg — Loan)

FW Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea — End of loan)

To watch: RB Sacha Boey (Türkiye’s transfer window closes Sept. 4)

A few more Bayern II outgoings to note:

CB Grayson Dettoni (Darmstadt 98 — €250K)
CB Paul Scholl (Karlsruher SC — €150K)
LB Deniz Ofli (Karlsruher SC — Loan)
AM Jussef Nasrawe (SV Ried — €100K)

CB Grayson Dettoni (Darmstadt 98 — €250K)

CB Paul Scholl (Karlsruher SC — €150K)

LB Deniz Ofli (Karlsruher SC — Loan)

AM Jussef Nasrawe (SV Ried — €100K)

Saibari and Brown are big-time gets. The pair, aged 25 and 23 respectively, cost Bayern €50M each — a number that while high still gets an “only” qualifier in the madness that is the market these days. They both shined at the Men’s World Cup over the summer and both have hit the ground running in Bavaria, looking like instant gets for Vincent Kompany’s squad. The pressure to carry the load immediately isn’t there for either of them, but each should get a good deal of playing time, potentially in different positions.

Add Ndiaye as another sneaky good get. Bayern pulled the newly-minted Senegalese international through their Red&Gold partnerships and after a productive loan spell in the second half of last year, the 18-year-old looks ready to slot in as the fourth central midfielder. Loads of potential, very little up front cost. It’s exactly the situation you want in midfield.

So far, that has all the makings of a solid A grade. Where Bayern gets knocked down, though, is that, “that’s it.” The German record champions are probably wise not to keep spending, but the boom/bust potential by definition goes up with just three eggs in the basket. A fourth solid addition — maybe Feyenoord’s Givairo Read? — would have been nice icing, but Bayern did not make sales in the necessary amounts to fund it.

And that is the rub. Bayern’s departure record this year is grim. While there has been promising return on some of the youngsters, big names like João Palhinha are leaving on much less than the club would have hoped. Bryan Zaragoza is only going on loan, which doesn’t help the balance sheet right now. Then there’s Alexander Nübel…who fetched even less than fellow keeper Daniel Peretz on his way to Greece. It’s a case of “there’s not much the club could do about it, probably” but also it falls way short of “wow! What an excellent window of sales.”

In the end, Bayern is down to the bare bones when it comes to backups at the left wing position behind Luis Díaz: Arijon Ibrahimović apparently flubbed his preseason opportunity and ended up loaned out; Wisdom Mike was sold, and Maycon Cardozo is out on a long-term injury. Tim Binder’s hurt, too. And these are all youngsters. You get the feeling Bayern would love to have come out of the window stronger in this area, but various circumstances have conspired to prevent that.

Taking all that into consideration, that “A with upside” slides a few pegs down, dipping even below the A- threshold. Bayern’s grade for the window lands at B+ territory, but honestly? If Brown and Saibari are everything they look like right now, and injuries don’t completely derail Bayern’s season, it’s going to look brilliant in hindsight. The vaunted 2022 class that brought in loads of youngsters amounted to just about nothing for Bayern, while this one could see at least two mainstays for years to come.

Don’t count those chickens just yet, though. The season is young.