Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga last season despite Borussia Dortmund managing a points haul that would have delivered the title to Signal Iduna Park in all but four of the previous 52 Bundesliga campaigns to date.Former boss Pep Guardiola left behind a formidable squad for incoming coach Carlo Ancelotti, yet the old adage about not fixing something unless it is broken is one that rarely carries much currency in the beautiful game, and the Bavarian giants have been typically busy in the summer transfer market.How successful were they in improving a team that already boasted some of the best players in the game' In order to answer such a question, you must first take stock of the ins and outs at Bayern in recent months.Mats Hummels made an emotional return to the club after eight years in Dortmund, with Mario Gotze moving in the opposite directionalthough no part-exchange was involved."Mats is one of the best central defenders in the world," said Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummeniggesaid, per the Deutscher Fussball-Bund's website. "With him on board we'll improve the quality in our team even more."Not content with adding one of the best defenders in the game, Bayern promptly announced they'd acquired the services of Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches from Benficabefore the then-18-year-old tyro became the youngest winner of a European Championship in France this summer."We've been watching him over a long period and we're delighted to sign him, despite a lot of interest in him from other big-name rivals," Rummenigge said, per Mark Lovell of ESPN FC."Renato's dynamic, strong in the tackle and a technically skilled midfielder who'll be a great addition to the side."Squad bolstered, Bayern also unloaded a number of players on the fringes of the first team. Following Gotze out of the Allianz Arena exit door were Sebastian Rode, who also joined BVB, as well as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who returned from his loan at Schalke04 only to promptly join Southampton in the Premier League.Hummels' arrival precipitated the departures of two other central defenders, with Medhi Benatia joining Juventus on loan and Serdar Tasci returning to Spartak Moscow.Whether Bayern's transfer market movements were positive surely depends on whether the team has been strengthened, and if so, at what cost' Is Rumenigge correct in his assertion that the quality of theteam has improved'Last season, injuries to Jerome Boateng and Holger Badstuber meantGuardiola was forced to lean on a 21-year-old Joshua Kimmich at the heart of his defence for much of the campaign. The converted midfielder impressed, helping the Bavarians to 14 clean sheets in his 23 appearances, yet there is little question that Hummels should be considered an upgrade.A Bayern academy graduate, a frustrated 19-year-old Hummels left Bayern for Dortmundinitially on loanin 2008, having featured just once for the first team. He returns as a FIFA World Cup-winning centre-back who won back-to-back titles with the Black and Yellows between 2010 and 2012. Firmly in his prime at 27, the 35 million spent on Hummelscould quickly prove to be a snip.A similar fee was paid to Portuguese champions Benfica for the nascent talent of Sanches. A bustling box-to-box midfielder, Sanches scored as in normal time as Portugal beat Poland on penalties in the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 en route to lifting the trophy in Paris at the tender age of 18 years, 10 months and 23 days old.It is conceivable Sanches has another 15 years left at the top, which makes Bayern's second 35 million outlay of the summer seem like more money well spent.With 70 million in the red column of their balance sheet, Rummenigge and the rest of the Bayern board did a fine job of recouping a significant amount of money. There was certain symmetry in the transfers of Hummels and Gotze, in that both were returning to their first clubs, but Gotze's three years away can scarcely be described as being so fruitful.Receiving 22 million for a player who only started 11 league games last term is a quite some return. Rode played under 400 minutes of Bayern's title-winning campaign, and he went for 12 million, whileHojbjerg had only ever started five games in two years for the Reds before his loan to Schalke last term. A talented young player, the Denmark international's 15 million fee must nonetheless have had Bayern at least smiling all the way to the bank.With just shy of a combined 50 million recouped, the next question is whether this season's squad looks to be 20 million better than 2015/16's. Hummels' arrival means Germany's defensive trio of Manuel Neuer, Boateng and the former Dortmund captainhas been reunited at club level. The three started all but one game together as Germany won the World Cup in Brazil two years ago.In Xabi Alonso, meanwhile, Bayern already boast a player who can dictate the game from deep. His 204 touches in the 2-0 win at Cologne in September 2014 constituted a Bundesliga record. Neuer is a famed sweeper-keeper, and with Hummels and Boateng in the mix, Bayern can start attacks from the base of the team from an abundance of sources.The presence of Alonso, as well as Copa America Centenario-winning Chilean Arturo Vidal, meansSanches' path to the starting XI might be more circuitous, but with a triple assault on theBundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League in wait, Bayern could yet have to negotiate 60 games in 2016-17. Having his boundless energy over a long campaign will be a positive.Hummels told Sport Bild (h/t FourFourTwo) heplans to deliver a first Champions League since 2013 for Bayern, saying: "[They] have come incredibly close again in recent years. That's why we have a big opportunity to fight for the title in the next few years."Should Hummels prove to be the difference in Europe, Bayern stand to gain significantly more than the aforementioned 20 million deficit. With more experience at the back and increased options in midfield, progressing deep into every competition is a distinct possibility.Bayern have brought home a player who became world-class at Dortmund and also added one of the most exciting young talents in the game. The crux of the team that won a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title has been kept together, and they have moved on players who rarely featured for significant sums of money.DidBayern succeed in the transfer market this summer' The inescapable conclusion seems to be most definitely. All transfer fees per Transfermarkt unless otherwise indicated.
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