Tasci in surprise move to Munich; Hamburg miss out on Sanogo

Champions Bayern Munich found an almost forgotten former Germany player to bolster their defence while SV Hamburg missed out on a new player by a few minutes at the end of the winter transfer window even though fax machines are no longer used. Hamburg sports director Peter Knaebel said the club did not reveice the necessary documents from Swiss club Berne over a move of defensive midfielder Sekou Sanogo until a few minutes after Monday’s 6 pm (1700 GMT) German deadline. “I want to make it clear that contract documents are no longer faxed,” Knaebel told the club website. “(But) Unfortunately the required documents were sent too late. This is very annoying. I feel sorry for the player.” Serdar Tasci was meanwhile delighted to have been chosen by Pep Guardiola’s Munich to end their injury problems, after club officials initially said they would not make a last-gasp move in the wake of injuries to Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez. “I’m feeling very good and I’m really looking forward to the new challenge. I hope I can be of assistance to the team,” Tasci told Munich’s website after completing a loan move from Spartak Moscow until the end of the season, with an option to make the move permanent. Tasci won 14 caps between 2008 and 2010 and the 2007 Bundesliga title with VfB Stuttgart, and sports director Matthias Sammer said that “thanks to his quality and experience, he’s in a position to help us at once.” The 28-year-old is far from a big-name signing for treble-seeking Munich but Tuesday’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the deal nonetheless makes sense ahead of the crucial months of the season. “The club does not necessarily see Tasci as an adequate replacement for Boateng or Martinez but as a player who can play in Munich’s defence in a regular Bundesliga match,” the paper said. “The club protects itself against losing further players... Tasci will also allow players returning (from injury) a slow way back.” The Tasci deal followed a trend as loans made up around one third of the transfer window moves and amounted to around 8 of some 48 million euros (52.1 million dollars) spent by 16 of the 18 clubs—with Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen signing no new players. Income was at around 27.5 million euros. Like in England, clubs in the lower half of the table during the winter break were more active than those in the top half. Among late moves, third bottom Werder Bremen acquired Serbia under-21 midfielder Milos Veljkovic from Tottenham Hotspur, the fifth signing by Werder following Laszlo Kleinheisler (Videoton), Papy Djilobodji (Chelsea), Gerhard Tremmel (Swansea City) and Sambou Yatabare (Olympiakos). Hanover even added half a dozen new players, including Japan’s Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka) and forwards Adam Szalai (Hoffenheim) and Hugo Almeida (Anzhi) but they have nonetheless dropped to last with two defeats since the restart. The most expensive signing this winter has been winger Jonas Hofman, who moved from Borussia Dortmund to Borussia Moenchengladbach for some 7.5 million euros. The biggest sale was Wolfsburg defender Timm Klose to Premier League side Norwich City for 12 million euros. And while missing out on Sanogo, struggling Hamburg still got Switzerland striker Josip Drmic from Borussia Moenchengladbach for the rest of the season and Swedish international Nabil Bahoui on a free transfer after he last played at Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli.