Leonardo Bonucci joins Union Berlin and Bayern Munich left empty handed on final day of transfers

BERLIN (AP) — Italy captain Leonardo Bonucci joined Union Berlin on the last day of the transfer window in Germany while Bayern Munich's deal for Portugal midfielder João Palhinha broke down at the final minute on Friday.

German media reported English Premier League club Fulham called off Palhinha's transfer even after the player underwent medical tests and posed for photos in Munich. Bayern was reportedly ready to pay 65 million euros ($70 million) for the defensive midfielder, a position coach Thomas Tuchel identified as a priority. But Fulham was unable to find a replacement.

Eintracht Frankfurt star Randal Kolo Muani's expected move to Paris Saint-Germain was in doubt despite the France forward's best efforts to force through the transfer. Frankfurt said on Wednesday the 24-year-old was

refusing to train

.

Kicker magazine reported the clubs agreed on a 90 million euro ($97 million) fee for Kolo Muani, but that Frankfurt balked at the wage demands of his potential replacement, PSG forward Hugo Ekitike. There was still time before the transfer window closed in France for the two clubs to strike a deal.

Altogether Bundesliga clubs spent more than 700 million euros during the summer transfer period, the most since 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic forced clubs to rein in their spending.

UNION BERLIN

The 36-year-old Bonucci

signed at Union

— his first time at a club outside of Italy — after falling out of favor with Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, who told the highly decorated defender last season that he did not feature in his plans for 2023-24.

Bonucci made more than 500 appearances for Juventus and had a year left on his contract there, but he was excluded from preseason training and has been forced to look elsewhere to maintain his hope of captaining Italy at next year's European Championship in Germany.

Union is making its Champions League debut this season after its surprise fourth-place finish from its fourth year in the Bundesliga. The team was only promoted for the first time in 2019.

Bonucci was the latest prominent signing this summer after Germany left back Robin Gosens, former Germany striker Kevin Volland, Ivory Coast forward David Datro Fofana and United States midfielder

Brenden Aaronson

.

BAYERN MUNICH

Bayern was arguably weaker when the transfer window closed than it was at the start of the day.

The club's failure to sign Palhinha was a blow for Tuchel, who complained that the squad was full of midfielders such as Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and new signing Konrad Laimer who like to make runs forward.

Earlier Friday, Tuchel expressed regret that Bayern let versatile Croatia defender Josip Stanišić join Bayer Leverkusen on loan for the season, leaving him short of defensive cover after Benjamin Pavard's move to Inter Milan.

Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was on the verge of joining Liverpool after just one season at Bayern.

Bayern already broke the Bundesliga transfer record by signing

England captain Harry Kane

from Tottenham for a reported 100 million euros ($109 million), while it spent big to bring

South Korea defender Kim Min-jae

from Napoli. Portugal left back Raphaël Guerreiro arrived on a free transfer from league rival Borussia Dortmund, and Laimer likewise from Leipzig.

Sadio Mané left for Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr after a single disappointing season in Germany. Bayern wanted the player to replace Robert Lewandowski but the relationship between club and player turned sour as he worked his way back from the injury that kept him out of the World Cup for Senegal.

Bayern also sold defender Lucas Hernández to PSG. With first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer injured, the club tried and failed to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga — who went to Real Madrid instead — but encouraging news about Neuer's recovery made that less of a priority and it gave itself another backup option by signing Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz from Maccabi Tel Aviv.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Dortmund finalized Germany forward

Niclas Füllkrug’s transfer

from Werder Bremen for a reported fee of 15 million euros ($16.4 million) on Thursday. The club hopes the 30-year-old Füllkrug, an old-fashioned center forward, will revitalize the team after two lethargic performances in the Bundesliga so far.

Dortmund’s biggest transfer saw midfielder

Jude Bellingham leave

for Real Madrid for 103 million euros ($110 million) in June. The club has struggled to replace the England star, who has four goals in three Spanish league games. Midfielders Marcel Sabitzer and

Felix Nmecha

arrived from Bayern and Wolfsburg, respectively.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes has had a busy offseason rebuilding a team for coach Xabi Alonso to potentially challenge Bayern’s dominance. Leverkusen spent a reported 20 million euros ($21.7 million) to sign winger Nathan Tella from Southampton last week in what was its most expensive signing of the transfer period.

The club previously signed Switzerland midfielder

Granit Xhaka from Arsenal

, Nigerian forward Victor Boniface, German winger Jonas Hofmann, Spanish left back Álex Grimaldo, Brazil right back Arthur, Czech goalkeeper Matěj Kovář, and Stanišić on loan from Bayern.

It held onto stars such as Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, while France winger

Moussa Diaby

left for Premier League club Aston Villa for a reported fee of 55 million euros ($60 million).

LEIPZIG

Leipzig arguably lost more important players in the offseason with forwards Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) and André Silva (Real Sociedad) all leaving, while Croatia defender

Josko Gvardiol

joined Manchester City for a reported 90 million euros ($98 million), ranking him among the most expensive defenders in soccer history.

To compensate, Leipzig signed French defenders Castello Lukeba from Lyon for 30 million euros ($33 million) and El Chadaille Bitshiabu from Paris Saint-Germain for 15 million euros ($16 million).

Leipzig also signed

forward Loïs Openda

from Lens for 38 million euros ($41 million), making the 23-year-old Belgian the club’s record signing, and brought in winger Xavi Simons from PSG and midfielder Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool on loan.

OTHER DEALS

Werder Bremen signed Naby Keïta from Liverpool in a surprise deal but the midfielder's bad luck with injuries has continued. He has yet to play for Bremen. American forward

Jordan Pefok joined

Borussia Moenchengladbach on loan from Union on Thursday.

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Ellingworth reported from Duesseldorf, Germany.

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