It took Bayern Munich just over half an hour to strengthen their vice-like grip on the rest of the Bundesliga – and reinforce the notion German football is becoming dangerously dull.
Bayern spent $55 million on prising Portuguese teenager Renato Sanches from Benfica on Tuesday in a deal that could rise to $123 million depending on his achievements in Munich.
While that move came out of the blue – Manchester United were reported to be in pole
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MAGISTA OBRA BHM Black to sign Sanches – confirmation of the capture of Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels around 30 minutes later was more predictable.
Over eight years after leaving Bayern for Dortmund, the Germany international returned for a fee thought to be in the region of $58 million after weeks of speculation.
Hummels followed a path already trodden by Mario
women Mercurial Victory V Gotze and Robert Lewandowski in quitting Dortmund for Bayern.
All three have been pivotal in Dortmund's rise to becoming Bayern's most consistent challenger domestically.
Their departures, therefore, have double significance: bolstering an already formidable Bayern squad while weakening the only opposition remotely capable of ending the dominance enjoyed by the Allianz Arena club.
Bayern will win a fifth successive Bundesliga title next season under incoming boss Carlo Ancelotti, of that there is little doubt.
It is a situation replicated elsewhere in Europe. Juventus have just won their fifth consecutive Serie A crown while Paris Saint-Germain's financial advantage over the rest in France means Ligue 1 is a procession.
Atletico Madrid battle admirably, with sporadic success, to prevent the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly winning everything in Spain.
England's Premier League considers itself the best in Europe yet La Liga undeniably possesses the best teams - Barcelona are the Champions League holders but will be deposed by one of the Madrid clubs later this month, while Sevilla will attempt to win a third straight Europa League crown against Liverpool next week.
What the Premier
women mercurial vapor League has that the others do not is competition.
Yes, Leicester City's triumph is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence but at least four other teams – Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea – harboured genuine title ambitions last August, while
superfly mercurial women another club, Tottenham Hotspur, surprisingly proved the Foxes' closet challengers.