Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller have both questioned the quality of the Premier League and the desire of the world's best players to move to England.
Bayern might have lost coach Pep Guardiola to the Premier League, where he will take charge of Manchester City in July, but Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and David Alaba have ignored reported interest from English clubs.
All had been linked, to differing degrees, with moves to the Premier League over the course of the last year, but instead have renewed their deals with the German champions until 2021.
"What we've shown with those contract extensions is that the door is closed, no matter who comes [to sign players]," Rummenigge told kicker. "All those players are world class and there was a great demand.
"The players feel well here, in the city and in the [Allianz] Arena. We don't have to discuss that finances also play a role.
"We don't have to be excessive like it's the case in England. I don't believe the English market is very popular with the players. It's no coincidence that the football there lags behind the Spanish or the German."
Rummenigge's theory was backed by Bayer Leverkusen sporting executive Rudi Voller.
Leverkusen sold Son Heung-Min to Tottenham Hotspur for a reported transfer fee of €30 million last summer, and used the cash to bring in Manchester United forward Javier Hernandez and Dortmund midfielder Kevin Kampl. They finished the Bundesliga season in third, one place higher than the previous season.
"We got a lot of money from Tottenham and were able to get Kampl and Chicharito, you have to realise that," Voller told kicker. "It's nothing against Son, but we improved because of it."
Whereas Voller believes that there will also be painful transfers to the Premier League for Bundesliga clubs, he also claimed that the football in England will not be more competitive in Europe until clubs spend more wisely.
Völler: "Die Premier League macht am wenigsten Spaß" - Leverkusens Sportdirektor zu Gast beim kicker #BL https://t.co/hAxVrRnkcy
- kicker Bundesliga (@kicker_bl_li) May 29, 2016
"There are clubs in England that spend much more money, but don't do a lot of things as properly as Bayern," Voller added. "That's the difference.
"Bayern buy the best players, and it fits. You can see they have a plan. With English clubs you sometimes get the impression that's not case.
"I follow Spanish, Italian and English football, and Premier League is least fun to watch. Maybe the level of excitement is higher because more teams compete for the title than it's the case in Spain or Germany.
"But the best players currently don't play in England. [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo and Neymar all are under contract in Spain. Despite all the money, England does not get a lot of things right."