Hefty transfer fees have been known to break promising football careers. Gianluigi Lentini was a dazzling winger of great promise when AC Milan splashed a then world record €14m for his services. He promptly dissolved in the glare of San Siro lights.
Denilson was a free dribbling 21-year-old Brazilian whizz kid when Real Betis paid £21.9m to secure his services for a then world record fee. The 2002 World Cup winner simply wilted under the weight of his price tag.
That’s not the case with Bayern Munich’s £60m man Michael Olise. The London born Frenchman has lit up the Bundesliga with his effortless passing, sharp dribbling and clinical finishing.
The former Crystal Palace winger is a player to watch when Bayern Munich host champions Bayer Leverkusen as he is coming off an extraordinary week in which he scored four goals, made two assists and has Allianz Arena purring because of his eye for the pass before an assist.
Vincent Kompany has answered critics who questioned the wisdom of appointing a manager who oversaw Burnley’s relegation by creating an attacking juggernaut that’s plundered 29 goals in just six matches. Fielding Olise, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnarby just behind European Golden Shoe winner Harry Kane is working a treat for the Bavarians.
They begin as favourites to avenge last season’s losses to Bayer Leverkusen who are not yet firing on all cylinders having needed injury time goals from Bundesliga player of the year Wirtz and Victor Boniface to overcome Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 and Wolfsburg 4-3.
Action commences on Friday night with Borussia Dortmund targeting all three points at home to struggling Bochum. Signal Iduna Park boss Nuri Sahin is certain to rotate his players in readiness for next week’s Uefa Champions League game with Glasgow Rangers.
Wolfsburg’s home rubber with Stuttgart on Saturday guarantees a bucket load of goals given the prolific form exhibited by strikers Ermedin Demirovic, Denis Undav and Ridle Baku together with the attacking philosophy of managers Ralph Hasenhuttl and Sebastian Hoeness.
FRIDAY
Borussia Dortmund v Bochum
SATURDAY
RB Leipzig v Augsburg,
Freiburg v St Pauli,
Wolfsburg v Stuttgart,
Mainz v Heidenheim,
Gladbach v Union Berlin,
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen
SUNDAY
Holstein Kiel v Eintracht Frankfurt,
Hoffenheim v Werder Bremen