What every Bundesliga team needs this transfer window

Second-to-last Dortmund are stuck in a crisis of confidence, perhaps best embodied by luckless striker Ciro Immobile. The men in black-and-yellow have been shaky all over the pitch, but the place to begin is up front. A striker capable of replacing sorely-missed Robert Lewandowski would help patch together Dortmund's frayed defensive nerves.

Bayern don't really need anything from this tranfer window. Only a fool would bet against them wrapping up the title in March or April. But looking forward to the future, they would do well to find clubs to which they could loan out youngsters for developmental purposes. Midfield dynamo Xherdan Shaqiri is a prime example.

The good news for these clubs is that they're both decent defensively. The bad news is that they've only scored 26 goals between them, compared with Bayern's 41. To put it bluntly, neither team could hit the broad side of a barn in the first season half. Correcting that would be the first step toward avoiding relegation.

Third-placed Bayern Leverkusen have been pretty good this season without being able to launch a serious challenge for second place - let alone the very top. That was partially down to a poor spell for striker Stefan Kiessling, who only scored three goals. An understudy with potential to replace Kies long-term should be on their shopping list.

All the pieces seem to be falling into place for second-placed Wolfsburg, aside from at the forward position. Ivica Olic (above) is too old, Bas Dost too one-dimensional and Ivan Perisic too inconsistent to be considered a top striker. And that's what the Wolves need most to take the next big step domestically and internationally.

Former Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf has imposed his template on his new club Frankfurt who, led by the Bundesliga's top goal-getter Alex Maier, are scoring for fun. Unfortunately they conceded just as many, 34, as they've scored. Only Hertha Berlin and - you guessed it - Werder Bremen are worse with 35 and 39 goals conceded respectively. The needs here are clear.

After a tepid start, Schalke came on in the later months of 2014 and possess one of the best one-two striker combinations in the Bundesliga. But they haven't quite been able to crack the Champions League spots due to their lack of a healthy playmaker. Both Kevin-Prince Boateng (above) and Julian Draxler have been out injured - something the Royal Blues need to address.

One of Germany coach Joachim Löw's surprise additions to the squad that won the 2014 World Cup was 23-year-old defensive midfielder Christoph Kramer. He even started in the final, which has attracted the notice of some big European clubs. But, Kramer has been inconsistent with only two goals this season domestically. The Foals need an alternative.

In sixth place, tiny Augsburg are THE surprise team of the season because they have a squad made up of good players who put in a shift and get the job done when it's needed. Players like Tobias Werner or Paul Verhaegh. That's the reason Augsburg are ahead of bigger clubs like Hoffenheim and Hannover, both of whom could use a bit more of Werner's working-class grit.

If there's one player in Germany who's particularly crucial to his team, it's Mainz's Shinji Okazaki. The Japanese striker has had a hand in eleven of Mainz's 19 goals, scoring eight. If he were to go down injured, Mainz would be without a paddle and up.... well, you get the idea. Mainz desparately need reinforcements for the Japanese star this winter.

It's hard to fault Paderborn's squad. The Bundesliga's smallest club and biggest underdog are in a more than respectable tenth place. But Andre Breitenreiter's team seemed to run up against the wall toward the end of 2014, and no one will be taking them lightly in 2015, so adding some midfield quality could be the difference between survival and relegation.

Looking at Stuttgart's duller-than-dust roster, it's not hard to understand why the team spent most of the first half of the season in dead last. Without Vedad Ibisevic, who went down injured after Matchday 8, they lacked inspiration. The Bosnian will be working hard to come back from a stress fracture, but Stuttgart still need to inject a bit of additional life into the squad.

No matter what moves Freiburg make during the winter break, the current cellar dwellers will be in for a battle. The Southern Germans could start, though, with a defensive specialist. Freiburg tossed away no fewer than ten points by conceding last-minute goals. If they had closed out all of those matches, they'd be in seventh place.