How Bayern again weakens a national competitor

At first it was just rumors, then sports director Hasan Salihamidzic made his first statement on the player Marcel Sabitzer last Saturday before Bayern’s game against Hertha BSC Berlin (“We have already dealt with the player, yes”). Two days later, on Monday, FC Bayern announced completion. The midfielder is moving from RB Leipzig to Munich for 15 million. From a sporting point of view, the transfer makes sense. Sabitzer strengthens Bayern’s midfield. The Austrian international can play as six or eight. In defensive midfield he has extremely strong competition with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, but coach Julian Nagelsmann likes to rotate and FC Bayern needs a sufficiently thick staffing base for a long season.

The wonderful thing about this transfer is that it went so silently on the stage. After all, Sabitzer is the third departure to Munich within a summer that the people of Leipzig have to cope with. First they lost their coach Nagelsmann, then with defender Dayot Upamecano and now Sabitzer the two best players followed. But there was no outcry. The runner-up accepted the departures without comment, and there has been no other voice from the Bundesliga criticizing Bayern’s transfer policy. The three changes can be seen as a targeted attack by Bayern against the strongest national competitor. RB Leipzig is runner-up, such a bloodletting definitely weakens the team – at least for the time being.

The Bavarians used to be sharply criticized for their transfer policy

The approach taken by the people of Munich has a long tradition. When Borussia Dortmund lured Mario Götze, Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummel to Munich one after the other, it was by no means without a sound. Bayern’s intention to kill two birds with one stone, good transfers and weakening of the rival, was accompanied by sharp sounds from the club bosses, especially with Götze and Lewandowski. And the tactic works. The fact is that BVB has lagged behind Bayern in its development since then. That is certainly not only, but also because of the bloodletting of the personnel.

Under the aegis of Uli Hoeneß, the people of Munich have always used money and power to secure their number 1 status. Before BVB, it was Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen who fell victim to the attacks from Munich. 20 years ago, Bavaria bought Robert Kovac, Zé Roberto, Michael Ballack and Lucio one after the other from the up-and-coming Leverkusen players. After Bremen became champions in 2004, they subsequently lost Valerien Ismael, Tim Borowski and Miro Klose to Bayern. The changes were always accompanied by disagreements and arguments, the intention was too obvious to weaken unpleasant competition. It certainly also plays a role that Bayern have been at the end of the food chain in terms of transfers for decades and that the best professionals end up at Bayern.

RB Leipzig does not have a lobby

Why there is currently no outcry is probably easy to name: RB Leipzig, the retort club from the suburb of Makranstädt, is pretty unpopular among football fans across Germany. You could also say: You consider RB Leipzig to be the original sin of commercial football. In the media, the enthusiasm for the successes is kept within clear limits, nobody really warms for the Saxons. There is the necessary recognition for athletic performance (2020 semi-finalist in the Champions League, current runner-up), but no more. The aversion to FC Bayern has traditionally grown since the eighties (more precisely: since Uli Hoeneß became manager in 1979), but the rejection of the RB Leipzig construct with sponsor Red Bull in the back is at least as great. Some fans would probably not mind if the Leipzigers disappeared from the scene again, then they could focus on Bayern again.

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