In contrast to the wild dealing in England, German clubs spent cautiously on the summer transfer market, which closed at midnight on Monday. Bundesliga spending reached 150 million euros ($217 million) -- less than a quarter of the money spent in England.

Bundesliga spending, in fact, was down almost $75 million from last season. The single biggest factor was champion Bayern Munich's quite summer. Its only signings were Italian defender Massimo Oddo joining on loan from AC Milan and midfielder Tim Borowski on a free transfer from Werder Bremen -- in contrast to the 2007 signings in excess of $100 million.

The two biggest spenders were Hamburg and Wolfsburg, which spent almost $50 million apiece.

Hamburg spent more than $16 million -- a club record -- on Brazilian midfielder Thiago Neves.

Wolfsburg spent almost $40 million on Italian internationals Andrea Barzagli and Cristian Zaccardo from Palermo.