[TRANSFER WATCH] The 2009-10 German season begins Friday when defending Bundesliga champion Wolfsburg hosts VfB Stuttgart (TV: Gol TV, live, 2:30 pm ET). Wolfsburg didn’t sit on its laurels, acquiring Nigerian Obafemi Martins from Newcastle for $14.7 million and Algerian Karim Ziani from Marseille for $9.8 million. Stuttgart will be without star Mario Gomez, who was sold to Bayern Munich for a German record $42 million.
TRANSFER FEE PLAYER (OLD CLUB to NEW CLUB)
$42.0 million Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart to Bayern Munich)
$15.4 million Anatoliy Tymoschuk (Zenit St. Petersburg/RUS to Bayern Munich)
$14.7 million Obafemi Martins (Newcastle United/ENG to Wolfsburg)
$14.0 million Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich to FC Cologne)
$14.0 million Marcus Berg (Groningen/NED to Hamburg)
$12.6 million Eljero Elia (Twente/NED to Hamburg)
$12.6 million Marko Marin (Borussia Moen. to Werder Bremen)
$12.1 million Eljero Elia (Twente/NED to Hamburg)
$10.8 million Danijel Pranjic (Heerenveen/NED to Bayern Munich)
$9.8 million Josip Simunic (Hoffenheim to Hamburg)
$9.8 million Karim Ziani (Marseille/FRA to Wolfsburg)