Sell sell sell.. and then comes Gustavo

Well the transfer period was incredibly hectic and many big players moved for huge prices during the month of January.  I'm not talking about Bayern of course, but the English Premier League certainly was the busiest of all the leagues.  Bayern on the other hand had a different plan, sell one fifth of their squad and get one player of quality.  Luiz Gustavo was the only player that Bayern Munich bought and he came for a whopping 15m euros.  While many other left, including captain (at the time) Mark Van Bommel.

Gustavo has definitely been bought this season at least as a left-back.  Contento completely failed to live to expectations, Pranjic was seen at best as a back-up option and Braafheid was never seriously considered for the role.  So far he looks ok, a bit clumsy and solid defending.  He hasn't been stellar but after only 4 games, it is simply a tad hard to judge him by.. however I am expecting him to perform to a higher level once he starts gelling with his team mates and has a better understanding of the system Bayern plays.  Anyways his signing is something that can only be judged the longer he plays, we might have a better idea of how successful the signing is sometime during next season.

Bayern wondering why they bought you in the first place as well..

Now onto the players we have sold.  It started from Van Bommel, ex-captain and the first ever non-German captain to many others.  A free transfer to Milan..  Haas, a youth player and simply a squad number unless a defensive catastrophe happens has moved to the Premier League.  Braafheid to Hoffenheim on a free to sweeten the deal for Gustavo; Alaba on loan to Hoffenheim; Demichellis to Malaga in Spain for 3m euros, & Knasmuller to Inter Milan for 300,000 euros.  Most of these players are either old like Van Bommel and Demichellis or simply not good enough like Haas, Braafheid and Knasmuller (at least for the time).  Alaba is rated highly but needed game time which is why he left.  The problem now is Bayern has sold too many players, with no actual replacements.  Quite a few signings will likely come during the summer but a couple of injuries here and there and it's doubtful that they can cope.  Not to mention players like Klose, Kraft, Altintop & Ottl being free agents during the summer.  However Bayern had the worst injury crisis in 30 years according to our medial team the first half of the season, perhaps we will be more lucky the 2nd half?  Bayern Dusel might be the last hope, though I remain optimistic about the rest of the season..