Bayern Munich secured 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles largely through significantly higher spending than rivals. Paris Saint-Germain won the 2024/25 Champions League after shedding the mega-salaries of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappé, demonstrating that success can follow smarter, more sustainable wage policies. Concerns about an upward salary trend exist across European football. The PSG model paired reduced long-term wage commitments with large transfer investments in a new core group of players. Those incoming signings each cost at least €40 million, illustrating that reduced wage bills do not eliminate the need for substantial transfer expenditure. Academy production alone remains insufficient for top competition.
Throughout Bayern Munich's unrivaled streak of 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles, the running joke was that Bayern won the league in the summer rather than on the pitch. The Rekordmeister has made a habit of spending significantly more than the rest of the league in order to preserve the club's spot at the top of the Bundesliga food chain.
There's almost only one direction: upwards. Not just at FC Bayern, but in general. I was very gratified by Paris Saint-Germain's success in the Champions League. PSG consciously abandoned Europe's most expensive salary structure-Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé are gone-but they still won the UCL title for the first time. It shows that you can still achieve sporting success with smart, sustainable investments.
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