5 players who have joined Bayern Munich from Bundesliga clubs

Bayern Munich are at it again, snapping up talent from one of their Bundesliga rivals by signing Stuttgart’s Benjamin Pavard for a fee of £31.4 million.

The French defender now joins a long list of players to depart for Bayern Munich from a Bundesliga rival, making the switch from Stuttgart on a five-year deal.

But how have those before him fared in a Bayern shirt? Is the decision to join the German champions a good one?

We thought we’d take a look at some of the players before Pavard who have jumped to the top of the league by joining Bayern Munich from elsewhere in the Bundesliga, and we weren’t short of options. Here are our five picks.

Michael Ballack, a true legend of the game. He made his name at Bayern Leverkusen after working his way up, and it didn’t take long for the Munich giants to take notice.

Ballack played for Leverkusen for three years in all, making 78 appearance and in true fairytale fashion, he would actually go on to finish his career there.

However, the first time around, he was snapped up for just £11.5 million – it sounded like more in 2002. He would go on to represent Munich 107 times, winning three Bundesliga title and three cups.

His time with Bayern was a clear success and he would also go on to represent Chelsea as well as Germany.

Ballack was some player.

While we’re talking legends, Miroslav Klose is the next man on this list having left Werder Bremen to join Bayern in 2007. He scored 24 goals in 98 appearances for Bayern across four years, but it was on the international stage where he truly came to life.

Klose was a national hero, scoring 71 goals in 137 appearances for Germany across 13 years. He also won six titles with Bayern, including two Bundesliga and two DFB-Pokal cups.

Klose’s spell with Bayern wasn’t quite as successful as Ballack’s, but he certainly didn’t disappoint. Though, it did help that he could do no wrong in the eyes of German fans given his international exploits.

Another German international to make the move is Lukas Podolski. He joined the Munich giants in 2006 from Koln. Joining as a youngster, he represented the second team first before graduating for the senior team.

Podolski went on to score just 15 goals in 71 appearances before returning to Koln after a rather unsuccessful spell.

Of course, he would go on to play for Arsenal and he shone for Germany, scoring a respectable 49 goals in 130 games, but it just didn’t work out for him at the Allianz Arena.

A man who enjoyed a more successful spell with Bayern was Mario Mandzukic. He joined Bayern from Wolfsburg for a fee of around £12 million and it was money well spent.

He scored 33 goals in 54 games across two years, helping Munich to two league titles and a Champions League title.

He then left for Atletico Madrid in 2014 and many were disappointed to see him go.

Mandzukic will have no regrets about signing for Bayern.

Another player in that category is Robert Lewandowski. He’s now a Bayern legend and still at the club since signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2014.

Lewandowski has scored 116 goals in 142 games, making him one of the most successful strikers in the club’s long history.

He’s won four league titles since arriving at the Allianz Arena, and he will be keen to add a European title before he eventually departs.

Lewandowski is without doubt one of Bayern’s most successful signings and aged just 30, he still has plenty of goals to add to his growing tally.