A review of the hit rate on the signings made by the 18 clubs of Bundesliga for the 2016/17 season. We identified 129 signings for the first-team squad; 121 are included in the hit-rate calculation. Signings that did not earn relevant minutes during the season are classified as unsuccessful, except for youth investments (under 23 years old), classified separately and outside the count (8 cases, flagged in the appendix). Hit-rate scoring: successful signings count as a full point; fair ones, half a point.
Club ranking by hit rate
| Club | League position | Signings | Evaluated | Successful | Fair | Unsuccessful | Hit rate % |
|---|
| 1º | 1899 Hoffenheim | 4º | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 80% |
| 2º | Borussia Dortmund | 3º | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 67% |
| 3º | RB Leipzig | 2º | 16 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 61% |
| 4º | Werder Bremen | 8º | 9 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 56% |
| 5º | FC Schalke 04 | 10º | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 50% |
| 6º | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 9º | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 50% |
| 7º | Bayern München | 1º | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| 8º | SC Freiburg | 7º | 13 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 46% |
| 9º | Eintracht Frankfurt | 11º | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 42% |
| 10º | Hamburger SV | 14º | 10 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 39% |
| 11º | VfL Wolfsburg | 16º | 10 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 30% |
| 12º | Bayer Leverkusen | 12º | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25% |
| 13º | FC Augsburg | 13º | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20% |
| 14º | FSV Mainz 05 | 15º | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 17% |
| 15º | 1. FC Köln | 5º | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10% |
| 16º | FC Ingolstadt 04 | 17º | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10% |
| 17º | SV Darmstadt 98 | 18º | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4% |
| 18º | Hertha BSC | 6º | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
Successful signings count as a full point; Fair ones (median performance), half a point; Unsuccessful ones, zero. The difference between Signings and Evaluated are the youth investments (under-23), listed in the appendix. The full list for each club is in the appendix at the end.
The 5 best-performing signings
| Player | Club | Minutes | G+A | Avg rating |
|---|
| Emil Forsberg | RB Leipzig | 2346 | 8+19 | 7.40 |
| Mario Gómez | VfL Wolfsburg | 2854 | 16+1 | 7.10 |
| Max Kruse | Werder Bremen | 2046 | 15+7 | 7.47 |
| Timo Werner | RB Leipzig | 2433 | 21+5 | 7.19 |
| Ousmane Dembélé | Borussia Dortmund | 2040 | 6+12 | 7.34 |
Methodology
Only genuine signings for the first-team squad are considered (academy promotions, loan returns and internal moves are excluded). The performance of each signing is measured by the player's output over the season — minutes on the pitch, goal involvement and average match rating — in comparison with the other players in the competition.
Appendix — Signings by club
Full list of the signings identified, with each player's figures for the season.
* Youth investment (under 23 years old, no game time in the season) — classified separately, outside the hit-rate calculation.
** Matches and minutes counted across the fixtures analysed by the team.
1. FC Köln (6 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Marco Höger | 30 | 2061 | 0 | 1 |
| Konstantin Rausch | 28 | 1934 | 0 | 2 |
| Neven Subotić | 12 | 887 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Clemens | 12 | 792 | 1 | 1 |
| Artjoms Rudnevs | 18 | 688 | 3 | 3 |
| Sehrou Guirassy * | 6 | 79 | 0 | 0 |
1899 Hoffenheim (5 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Sandro Wagner | 31 | 2601 | 11 | 2 |
| Kevin Vogt | 31 | 2595 | 0 | 0 |
| Benjamin Hübner | 25 | 2148 | 2 | 3 |
| Lukas Rupp | 14 | 790 | 2 | 1 |
| Marco Terrazzino | 9 | 363 | 1 | 2 |
Bayer Leverkusen (4 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Julian Baumgartlinger | 22 | 1562 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Volland | 23 | 1469 | 6 | 2 |
| Aleksandar Dragović | 19 | 1257 | 0 | 1 |
| Joel Pohjanpalo | 11 | 185 | 6 | 0 |
Bayern München (2 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Mats Hummels | 27 | 2181 | 1 | 1 |
| Renato Sanches | 17 | 617 | 0 | 0 |
Borussia Dortmund (7 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Ousmane Dembélé | 32 | 2040 | 6 | 12 |
| Marc Bartra | 19 | 1560 | 0 | 3 |
| Raphaël Guerreiro | 24 | 1482 | 6 | 3 |
| Mario Götze | 11 | 763 | 1 | 1 |
| Andre Schürrle | 15 | 745 | 2 | 2 |
| Sebastian Rode | 14 | 575 | 1 | 0 |
| Patrick Mainka * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Borussia Mönchengladbach (3 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Jannik Vestergaard | 34 | 2656 | 4 | 1 |
| Tobias Strobl | 23 | 1565 | 0 | 2 |
| Timothée Kolodziejczak | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Eintracht Frankfurt (6 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Omar Mascarell | 28 | 2450 | 0 | 0 |
| Jesús Vallejo | 25 | 2055 | 1 | 0 |
| Branimir Hrgota | 28 | 1749 | 5 | 1 |
| Ante Rebić | 24 | 1405 | 2 | 2 |
| Michael Hector | 22 | 1355 | 1 | 0 |
| Guillermo Varela | 7 | 430 | 0 | 0 |
FC Augsburg (5 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Martin Hinteregger | 31 | 2773 | 3 | 0 |
| Jonathan Schmid | 25 | 1699 | 1 | 3 |
| Gojko Kačar | 22 | 1098 | 0 | 1 |
| Takashi Usami | 11 | 438 | 0 | 0 |
| Moritz Leitner | 6 | 235 | 0 | 0 |
FC Ingolstadt 04 (6 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Marcel Tisserand | 28 | 2389 | 0 | 1 |
| Martin Hansen | 23 | 2038 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonny Kittel | 20 | 789 | 2 | 1 |
| Anthony Jung | 16 | 698 | 1 | 1 |
| Nico Ingo Rinderknecht | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hauke Wahl * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FC Schalke 04 (8 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Nabil Bentaleb | 32 | 2551 | 5 | 5 |
| Naldo | 19 | 1624 | 1 | 0 |
| Benjamin Stambouli | 23 | 1294 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Caligiuri | 16 | 1112 | 2 | 3 |
| Holger Badstuber | 10 | 864 | 0 | 0 |
| Abdul Baba Rahman | 13 | 707 | 0 | 2 |
| Coke | 8 | 628 | 1 | 0 |
| Yevhen Konoplyanka | 17 | 604 | 1 | 1 |
FSV Mainz 05 (6 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Jonas Lössl | 27 | 2430 | 0 | 0 |
| Levin Öztunali | 30 | 1971 | 5 | 6 |
| André Ramalho | 18 | 1134 | 0 | 0 |
| Bojan Krkić | 11 | 630 | 1 | 1 |
| Robin Quaison | 11 | 482 | 1 | 0 |
| José Rodríguez | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Hamburger SV (10 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Filip Kostić | 31 | 2529 | 4 | 3 |
| Bobby Wood | 28 | 2083 | 5 | 2 |
| Douglas Santos | 20 | 1712 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyriakos Papadopoulos | 15 | 1291 | 2 | 0 |
| Mërgim Mavraj | 14 | 1260 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Mathenia | 14 | 1260 | 0 | 0 |
| Walace | 9 | 721 | 1 | 0 |
| Luca Waldschmidt | 14 | 348 | 1 | 1 |
| Alen Halilović * | 6 | 137 | 0 | 0 |
| Arianit Ferati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hertha BSC (2 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Alexander Esswein | 29 | 1321 | 2 | 2 |
| Ondrej Duda * | 3 | 67 | 0 | 0 |
RB Leipzig (16 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Péter Gulácsi | 33 | 2970 | 0 | 0 |
| Diego Demme | 32 | 2872 | 1 | 3 |
| Marcel Halstenberg | 30 | 2659 | 0 | 1 |
| Stefan Ilsanker | 33 | 2644 | 0 | 0 |
| Willi Orbán | 28 | 2518 | 3 | 1 |
| Timo Werner | 31 | 2433 | 21 | 5 |
| Emil Forsberg | 30 | 2346 | 8 | 19 |
| Marvin Compper | 25 | 2102 | 2 | 0 |
| Bernardo | 22 | 1894 | 0 | 1 |
| Benno Schmitz | 16 | 988 | 0 | 2 |
| Dominik Kaiser | 25 | 950 | 1 | 0 |
| Oliver Burke | 25 | 617 | 1 | 2 |
| Davie Selke | 21 | 436 | 4 | 1 |
| Rani Khedira * | 10 | 157 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyriakos Papadopoulos | 1 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Marius Müller * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SC Freiburg (13 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Vincenzo Grifo | 30 | 2490 | 6 | 8 |
| Florian Niederlechner | 34 | 2421 | 11 | 2 |
| Nicolas Höfler | 28 | 2368 | 1 | 1 |
| Çağlar Söyüncü | 24 | 2070 | 0 | 1 |
| Janik Haberer | 32 | 1955 | 3 | 4 |
| Manuel Gulde | 20 | 1687 | 0 | 0 |
| Amir Abrashi | 20 | 1321 | 1 | 0 |
| Nils Petersen | 33 | 1232 | 10 | 4 |
| Lukas Kübler | 16 | 1158 | 0 | 1 |
| Aleksandar Ignjovski | 19 | 1050 | 0 | 0 |
| Onur Bulut | 21 | 999 | 0 | 1 |
| Georg Niedermeier | 6 | 91 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonas Meffert * | 1 | 58 | 0 | 0 |
SV Darmstadt 98 (11 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Michael Esser | 28 | 2485 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexander Milošević | 18 | 1598 | 0 | 0 |
| Artem Fedetsky | 16 | 1113 | 0 | 0 |
| Sven Schipplock | 23 | 1104 | 2 | 0 |
| Leon Guwara | 17 | 1097 | 0 | 0 |
| Immanuel Höhn | 12 | 1069 | 0 | 0 |
| Sidney Sam | 13 | 885 | 2 | 1 |
| László Kleinheisler | 12 | 780 | 1 | 1 |
| Anis Ben-Hatira | 11 | 588 | 1 | 0 |
| Daniel Heuer Fernandes | 7 | 575 | 0 | 0 |
| Denys Oliynyk | 4 | 46 | 1 | 0 |
VfL Wolfsburg (10 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Mario Gómez | 33 | 2854 | 16 | 1 |
| Yannick Gerhardt | 27 | 2214 | 0 | 2 |
| Jeffrey Bruma | 20 | 1718 | 1 | 0 |
| Jakub Błaszczykowski | 28 | 1689 | 0 | 1 |
| Yunus Malli | 16 | 1176 | 1 | 1 |
| Daniel Didavi | 18 | 989 | 4 | 2 |
| Riechedly Bazoer | 12 | 973 | 0 | 1 |
| Philipp Wollscheid | 7 | 541 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul-Georges Ntep | 10 | 503 | 0 | 2 |
| Borja Mayoral | 19 | 375 | 2 | 0 |
Werder Bremen (9 signings)
| Player | Matches** | Minutes** | Goals | Assists |
|---|
| Niklas Moisander | 30 | 2655 | 0 | 1 |
| Lamine Sané | 27 | 2364 | 1 | 1 |
| Robert Bauer | 27 | 2124 | 1 | 3 |
| Max Kruse | 23 | 2046 | 15 | 7 |
| Serge Gnabry | 27 | 1970 | 11 | 1 |
| Jaroslav Drobný | 10 | 849 | 0 | 0 |
| Florian Kainz | 14 | 300 | 2 | 3 |
| Fallou Diagne | 2 | 135 | 0 | 0 |
| Lennart Thy | 6 | 84 | 1 | 0 |