Top Bundesliga January transfers
Wolfsburg spent more than any other Bundesliga club during the mid-season January transfer window, but were by no means the only side to seek reinforcements. These are some of the league's fresh faces.
Top dollar for Belgium's Kevin de Bruyne
Wolfsburg's Volkswagen backers, enjoying another strong year in emerging markets, spent big to bring Kevin de Bruyne back to the Bundesliga. The young Belgian, a star on loan with Werder Bremen last season, left Chelsea for a reported 20 million euros. A versatile attacking midfielder with Belgian World Cup ambitions, de Bruyne could be departed Diego's long-term replacement.
Diego leaves for Spain
The talented Brazilian playmaker left Wolfsburg to return to Atletico Madrid, where he spent the 2011-12 season on loan. In doing so he goes from a Bundesliga side fighting just to qualify for the Champions League to a club immersed in Spain's title quest. Neutral fans will certainly miss the talents of the mecurial 28-year-old, who at times showed creativity and vision worthy of the game's best.
Korea's Koo leaves Wolves for Mainz
As de Bruyne arrived, playmaker Ja-Cheol Koo departed Wolfsburg's ranks in a roughly 5-million-euro move to Mainz. The South Korean international was struggling for playing time and hoping for a transfer away from the Wolves. Koo, 24, had a splendid loan spell with Augsburg last season, and joins a Mainz side lacking creative impetus behind Nicolai Müller. This deal promises plenty.
Junior Malanda hopes for next step
Junior by name and nature at the tender age of 19, Wolfsburg's new defensive midfielder has a bright future. The Belgian under-21 international was a regular for SV Zulte Wagerem in Belgium's top division. Wolfsburg snapped up the teen talent in the summer, but agreed his development would be best served with another six months in Belgium on loan. Expect a Bundesliga debut before the season's end.
Hamburg borrow Benfica's Ola John
Ask Bayer Leverkusen fans what Ola John can do. The Benfica winger scored a peach against Leverkusen in last year's Europa League, helping his Portuguese club towards the final against Chelsea. Hamburg's Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has brought John in on loan, seeking some extra firepower in the club's relegation battle. John, 21, already has one senior cap for the Netherlands.
Leverkusen look to left side
Mexican winger Andres Guardado joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan from Valencia until the end of the season. A talented attacker, The 27-year-old is also capable of filling in at one of Leverkusen's key positions in need of strengthening, left back. Could Sebastian Boenisch be doing more watching than playing in the Bundesliga's second half of the season?
Dortmund add to attack
Borussia Dortmund spent a reported 2.2 million euros ($3 million) to acquire the services of Partizan Belgrade's Milos Jojic. The 21-year-old Serbian was having a breakout season with his club side and will help BVB make up for Jakub Blaszczykowski's season-ending injury. But with a slim back line, some are wondering if Dortmund brought in reinforcements at the right position.
US star Jermaine Jones leaves Schalke
Schalke's combative veteran and suspension-magnet Jermaine Jones left the league in January. Jones joins Turkish side Besitkas on loan until the end of the season - and may never return to Gelsenkirchen, as his Schalke contract expires this summer. But Schalke's most obvious replacement for Jones, Bayern Munich loanee Jan Kirchhoff, injured himself in training before kicking a ball in blue.
Closure in tragic tale of Tim Wiese
Tim Wiese jumped straight into the Hoffenheim goal wearing the captain's armband on his debut at the beginning of last season. The former German international slid out of favor in a matter of months, losing his starting spot, and then the right even to train with the senior squad. Some 18 months into his four-year Hoffenheim contract, Wiese and the club struck a (surely costly) deal to part ways.
Gladbach cut de Jong losses
Flush with cash after the sale of Marco Reus, Gladbach broke their transfer record for Netherlands international Luuk de Jong 18 months ago. Now, de Jong's moving on loan to Newcastle, in a deal that could become permanent. A lofty striker of the old-fashioned mold, de Jong never fitted into coach Lucien Favre's system. Favre favors more versatile attackers, like German summer signing Max Kruse.
"Until 2018?" For now, Draxler stays with Schalke
Julian Draxler's Schalke contract, freshly inked in summer, runs until 2018. The likelihood that he will stay that long appears slim - but the German star's going nowhere for now. Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger, whose squad makeup is already distinctly "deutsch" (including Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, Mesut Özil and Serge Gnabry), reportedly tried and failed to tempt Draxler to London.