Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke believes that winning the Bundesliga is going to get harder and harder for his club as Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg get richer.
Dortmund, who last won the title in 2012, slumped to a seventh-placed finish last season while Wolfsburg ended the campaign as Bayern's closest rivals in second.
The Wolves can count on the financial backing of automobile manufacturer Volkswagen and Watzke fears their growing wealth is going to lead to a split in the league over the years to come with Bayern and Wolfsburg pulling away from the rest.
"The only club in Germany who can hunt down Bayern now are Wolfsburg," he told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
"When we won the title, our players got on an open-top lorry to celebrate in front of our fans -- Wolfsburg's players all got in convertible Lamborghinis.
"I think that is the best way to illustrate the different positions the two clubs are in."
Watzke nevertheless expects his club to be more competitive next season, praising new coach Thomas Tuchel as a "competent, ambitious and friendly" coach -- somebody they always had their eyes on as a successor to Jurgen Klopp.
"In all of the discussions I had with [sporting director] Michael Zorc over the year, it was always clear for us that if Jurgen Klopp were ever to leave us then Thomas Tuchel had to be a big option," he said.