Are Bayern Munich on their way to becoming the Celtic of Germany?

The agreement between Dortmund and Bayern for the transfer of Robert Lewandowski in the summer is highly disturbing. As soon as I saw this news though, I decided to go back to 2006-07, the year in which Stuttgart broke the Bavarians’ domination and Bayern finished a dismal 4th, and take a look at Bayern Munich’s transfer activities from then on.

2007-08

Transfers: Bayern had just finished 4th last year and of course their biggest transfer was one Franck Ribery from Olympique Marseille. Their next big acquisition? Miroslav Klose from from Werder Bremen, scorer of 13 league goals from the team which finished 3rd. They also signed Luca Toni from Fiorentina and Hamit Altintop from Schalke.

Result: Thanks to the performances of Player of the year Ribery and 24 goal Luca Toni, Bayern finished the 07-08 season on 76 points, 10 ahead of the Klose-less Werder Bremen who finished in 2nd place. Mario Gomez had finished 2nd in the goal scorers list for Stuttgart with 19 goals and the surprise package of the season were Wolfsburg who had finished 5th.

2008-09

Transfers: Bayern had no big transfers in the summer of 08-09.

Result: Vfl Wolfsburg win the league by 2 points, spear headed by Grafite and Dzeko. Gomez continues to be excellent for Stuttgart coming in 3rd on goal scorers list for Stuttgart with 24 goals. Bayern finish second and Stuggart finish 3rd, 3 points behind Bayern.

2009-10

Transfers: Bayern squad undergoes another major overhaul with the signings of Arjen Robben from Real Madrid, Mario Gomez from Stuttgart, Tymoshuck from Zenit and Olic from Hamburger SV. In the same year, Muller and Badstuber are promoted to the first squad.

Result: Bayern win back the title from Wolfsburg thanks to amazing performances from Robben and Muller. Schalke finish second and Manuel Neuer has many eye catching performances for them. Mesut Ozil propells Bremen to 3rd and Dortmund are back in the big time. Bereft of their star striker, Stuttgart finish 6th.

2010-11

Transfers: With the exception of Gustavo from Hoffenheim, there are no big transfers for Bayern. Toni Kroos is back after having an impressive season for Leverkusen while on loan.

Result: Bayern are swept by the yellow wave of Jurgen Klopp’s men. Bayern finish 3rd, 10 points behind Dortmund and 3 points behind Jupp Heynckes’ Bayer Leverkusen.

2011-12

Transfers: The highly controversial transfer of Manuel Neuer from Schalke is completed and Bayern also sign Leverkusen’s manager Jupp Heynckes. Bayern sign Jerome Boateng from Manchester City and Rafinha from Genoa.

Result: Dortmund continue to be unstoppable thanks to Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa. Claudio Pizzaro is excellent for Werder Bremen and Monchengladbach finish 4th powered by Marco Reus and Dante. Bayern finish 2nd.

2012-13

Transfers: The biggest signing is Javi Martinez but Bayern also sign big players from the rivals. Mandzukic from Wolfsburg, Pizzaro from Bremen(Free) and Dante from Monchengladbach.

Result: Bayern have an unprecedented treble winning season. They win the league at a canter. Dortmund finish second and Bayern already have an agreement to sign Mario Gotze, one of Dortmund most promising players. Bayern have also concluded a deal to bring the record breaking Pep Guardiola as coach.

2013-14

Transfers: Thiago Alacantara from Barcelona and Gotze from Dortmund.

Halfway through the season, Bayern are leading by 7 points and are 11 ahead of Dortmund. Dortmund’s star striker is on his way to Bayern for the 2014-15 season.

2014-15

Transfers: Robert Lewandowski from Dortmund

Full credit to Bayern for playing some excellent football and being the best team in Europe right now. But I feel very bad for teams competing with Bayern domestically as they have very little power to stop Bayern from poaching their best players. For the sake of the league, this has to stop. Bayern have already reached a level where no team can compete with them in Germany and the transfer of Lewandowski is not in good spirit. Atleast la liga is a duopoly.

P.S. For those who didn’t know, Mats Hummels is a Bayern Munich youth product.