Another summer, another three (and counting!) superstars are leaving RB Leipzig.
When people complain about the Bundesliga being a one-club league, well, the fault rarely resides with Bayern Munich.
RB Leipzig has already lost Konrad Laimer (free, Bayern Munich), Christopher Nkunku (€65 million, Chelsea FC), and Dominik Szoboszlai (€70 million, Liverpool FC), while Josko Gvardiol has legitimate interest from Manchester City and is expected to move on.
Losing four players of that caliber would cripple most clubs, but RB Leipzig has a built-in resiliency because of its superior scouting and youth development system. That said, no one will expect Die Roten Bullen to seriously challenge Bayern Munich next season in what abouts to a rebuilding year even with Christoph Baumgartner (Hoffenheim), Benjamin Sesko (Red Bull Salzburg), and Nicolas Seiwald (Red Bull Salzburg) joining the squad.
In an interview with Leipziger Volkszeitung (as captured by Sport Bild), RB Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl said he can feel the frustration from fans.
“I can understand the disappointment and concerns of the fans. No club, no manager and no coach in the world likes to lose players of this caliber.”
Eberl assures that the departures “did not catch the club unprepared”. He could “promise that we will have a great and exciting team again.” With regard to the newcomers Eberl said: “We’ve already signed really good guys and we’ll bring in more, extremely exciting players.”
“Josko and his advisors have given us their wish to move to Manchester City,” confirmed Eberl: “We are in talks with Manchester. Nothing more can be said at the moment.” With Szoboszlai, Liverpool made use of a €70m release clause. Eberl: “Of course we would have liked to have gone into the new season and the years to come with Dominik. However, he has now decided to go to England to Liverpool FC – and thus we have to let him go to an absolute top international team.”
RB Leipzig will definitely reload rather rebuild, but the loss of such talent — especially all at once — damages the Bundesliga’s power and also weakens the field that will try to prevent Bayern Munich from making it an even dozen titles in a row.
As of now, however, there is no fix for the situation and the Bundesliga will continue to be the world’s training ground when it comes to talent development.
Looking for more insight on the recent transfer coming and goings? Check out our Weekend Warm-up Podcast on Spotify or below for our thoughts on the rumors linking Bayern Munich to Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, Juventus’ Federico Chiesa, and a whole lot more:
