Bundesliga

FC Bayern Munich – comment on Thomas Müller: Thomas Hollywood

Published

3 weeks ago

June 9, 2022

FC Bayern Munich – comment on Thomas Müller: Thomas Hollywood

Unlike most football protagonists, Thomas Müller can also joke about supposedly serious topics such as the transfer theater between his FC Bayern Munich and Robert Lewandowski. The 32-year-old is thus disarming a business that may take itself a bit too seriously in its public image. A comment.

With serious faces, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka or Joshua Kimmich preferred not to say anything. But you don’t do that either – unless you’re Toni Kroos – so they said a few more sentences. As is customary in the industry, they had been asked at their press conferences in the past few days about the escalating dispute between their club FC Bayern Munich and their teammate Robert Lewandowski. As is usual in the industry, they were annoyed by it.

Then Thomas Müller came – and he saw it all very differently. “It’s the summer slump. It doesn’t hurt if there’s still a little movement in there,” he said after the German national team’s 1-1 draw against England on Tuesday and laughed. “It doesn’t bother me if the soup keeps cooking.” After all, this soup of rumors would also taste warmed up, Müller asserted: “Like from the microwave.”

It almost resembled the call: keep speculating and discussing! And don’t forget the wink! Once again, Müller disarmed a business that may take itself a bit too seriously in its public image. Ultimately, it’s about football. A sport that has long since become part of the entertainment business.

As the name suggests, this industry primarily serves to entertain the fans who ultimately finance all of this. Whether you like it or not, it has been proven that many of them are not only interested in tactics, goals and titles, but also in rumours, scandals and jokes. Hardly anyone understands this as well as Müller, so he plays the game.

It started in 2016! The ongoing speculation about Lewandowski’s departure

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Robert Lewandowski and FC Bayern Munich – this has not only been a relationship for a few weeks, which also brings controversy. A chronology of events to date.

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April 2016: Almost two years after his signature at FC Bayern, rumors surfaced that the striker would move to Real Madrid. According to AS, the striker met with Real representatives on the sidelines of the CL semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

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However, Bayern immediately blocked the move and referred to the contract that was valid until 2019. “He will also play for FC Bayern next season, there’s no doubt about that,” said technical director Michael Reschke at the time.

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December 2016: At the latest with his early contract extension until 2021, the rumors died down. With the new Bayern contract, Lewandowski has risen to become one of the top earners in the Bundesliga.

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June 2017: After Lewandowski had to cede the top scorer to BVB competitor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Bundesliga, the striker publicly criticized the attitude of his teammates.

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“I wasn’t really happy with how my team helped me. I was upset, I was disappointed with the team’s attitude. That was my feeling after the game,” said Lewandowski.

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Again there is speculation about a change, again Bayern pushes the bar. “Robert Lewandowski has a contract with FC Bayern, which he recently extended until 2021,” the club said in a statement.

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September 2017: After the fourth failure in a CL semi-final in a row, Lewandowski sees his dream of winning the premier class in jeopardy. Unusually clearly, he calls on Munich to strengthen the squad.

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“Bayern have never bought a player for more than 40 million euros. You have to come up with something and be creative. If you want to play at the top, you need the quality of these players,” said Lewandowski.

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March 2018: The annual Real Madrid rumors are making the rounds in Munich again. According to Mundo Deportivo, Lewandowski has already agreed a two-year deal with Los Blancos and Florentino Perez in the Spanish capital.

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At around the same time, the Pole presents his new agent, Pini Zahavi. There is speculation that the top consultant could push for a move to a European heavyweight.

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The denial follows immediately from Bayern. “Robert still has a three-year contract and will be playing for Bayern Munich next season. I’m happy to take bets on that,” said CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

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At the same time, Rummenigge has his striker’s back and defends him against the critical voices: “I find this discussion ridiculous. He scored 39 goals this year too. We’re glad he’s with us.”

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Because the Pole himself is repeatedly criticized by the media and fans. Many denounce his invisibility in important games. The striker would only score against smaller teams, according to the accusation.

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May 2018: The Zoff reached a preliminary peak when Lewandowski’s advisor Zahavi publicly played with his protégé’s ideas about changing for the first time. The Pole is asking the club for immediate release.

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“Robert feels that he needs a change and a new challenge in his career. Those responsible at FC Bayern know about it,” said Zahavi. However, the Munich team will not let the striker go.

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July 2019: During Bayern’s US tour, Lewandowski once again publicly called for top reinforcements for the team. “Otherwise it will be difficult to play for big titles,” said the striker.

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August 2019: Lewandowski prematurely extended his contract, which ran until 2021, until 2023, relatively quietly. That should be rewarded. In the summer of 2020 he will finally win the long-awaited Champions League title with Bayern.

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Summer 2021: With all possible club titles on the credit side, rumors of transfers are popping up again. Among others, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and – who else – Real Madrid are said to be interested.

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However, the renewed speculation is not really concrete. The Pole will start his eighth season as a Bayern Munich player in autumn 2021.

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February 2022: In early 2022, Lewandowski finally gave the go-ahead for a mudslinging between him and the club that has continued to this day.

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The Pole is surprised by the statements made by sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, who “of course wants to do everything possible” to extend Lewandowski’s contract. “I’m hearing that for the first time,” he says in a Sky interview.

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Bayern then try to calm things down. “I’ve said it several times that we want to hold talks with many of our deserving players, including Robert, of course, in the spring,” commented CEO Oliver Kahn on the statements.

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March 2022: The rumors get new fuel according to statements by Lewandowski’s ex-adviser Maik Barthel: “Something seems to be bothering Robert at FC Bayern at the moment, not liking it. Otherwise it’s not his way to express himself like that,” he says.

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At the same time, speculation is intensifying that Bayern are showing serious interest in BVB striker Erling Haaland. Kahn even confirms a meeting with his advisor Mino Raiola, but the FCB boss does not give the reason.

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Since there are apparently no contract talks, Lewandowski’s desire to change is becoming more and more obvious. Media reports that the Pole is “irritated” that there has still been no contact. Appreciation is missing.

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April 2022: The Spanish Sport reports for the first time on a concrete interest of FC Barcelona. Accordingly, the Catalans would closely monitor the contract situation surrounding the striker and hope that the negotiations will fail.

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The official side of Barcelona does not want to confirm the rumors for the time being. “We don’t have an agreement with Lewandowski. This is press speculation, which is very good for filling pages,” commented Barca sporting director Mateu Alemany.

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The FCB bosses are therefore planning a meeting with the striker for April. “We are in contact with Robert, we will discuss everything else with him and his agent in peace,” Salihamidzic tries to downplay the rumours.

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After beating rivals Borussia Dortmund 3-1 and winning the tenth German championship in a row, Lewandowski avoids making a clear commitment to the club. In the post-match interview, he is cryptic.

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“There haven’t been any talks with Bayern yet. It will probably happen. But everything that’s in the media isn’t true. Nothing special has happened so far. It’s not such an easy situation for me,” said the striker.

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May 2022: Lewandowski announces for the first time that he may be leaving FC Bayern. “It’s quite possible that it was my last game for FC Bayern,” he said after the last Bundesliga game of the season against Wolfsburg.

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In addition, the striker claims that he has not received a concrete offer to extend his contract from Bayern up to this point. The Pole confirms that he does not want to extend his working paper, which expires in 2023.

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However, Bayern immediately put a stop to a change in the summer. “He has a contract until 2023. He will fulfill this contract. Basta!” Says Kahn in the Sport 1 double pass. President Hainer made a similar statement.

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Another bombshell then drops Lewy advisor Zahavi. “Of course you can keep Robert for another year, but I wouldn’t recommend it. For Robert Lewandowski, FC Bayern is history,” he told Bild.

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June 2022: At the beginning of June, Lewandowski spoke up again. At a press conference by the Polish national team, he reaffirmed his desire to leave Bayern in the summer.

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“My era at Bayern is over. I can’t imagine another good partnership. Bayern is a serious club and I hope they won’t keep me just because they can,” says Lewandowski.

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Bayern’s reaction was not long in coming. Compared to Sport1, Kahn shoots hard against the Pole for the first time. “I can’t tell you why Robert chose this path. Appreciation is not a one-way street!”

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However, it does not trigger a rethink in Lewandowski. The week after, the Pole even goes even further. “I just want to leave FC Bayern. Loyalty and respect are more important than work. Something died in me,” he says at OnetSport.

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A little later he rowed back to the picture and said that “it was time for a new stage”. “I’m not an egoist. I know what I had at Bayern and appreciate it very much,” said Lewandowski. Nevertheless, he is still aiming for a transfer.

Thomas Müller made similar statements about Alaba and Boateng

Similar to Lewandowski now, FC Bayern was in a minor dispute with David Alaba a year and a half ago. At that time it was about a possible contract extension, about alleged deadlines, about salary demands. “We want something to move around here, and it’s nice when it crackles a bit,” said Müller at the time. “I used to enjoy reading it when it was FC Hollywood again.”

The term FC Hollywood came into being in the mid-1990s as a synonym for FC Bayern, where the so-called alpha animals Stefan Effenberg, Lothar Matthäus and Oliver Kahn had gathered at the time. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a game day or not: there was always something going on, one always messed with the other. They were the first harbingers of where football was going to go. During this time, Müller grew up not far from Munich in the village of Pähl and seemed to enjoy reporting on his favorite club.

He has been serving them with jokes and jokes himself for 13 years now. He hardly distinguishes between loose topics and those that are supposedly serious in the industry. He can’t change anything anyway, so what the heck!

“It would be completely wrong for players to comment on contract histories,” said Müller in the course of Jerome Boateng’s farewell a year ago. “Then it would be here… as it is. Shit, now I’ve caught myself.”