At the height of the speculation surrounding David Alaba's future at Bayern Munich in 2020, Thomas Muller was asked if he felt there was a danger of the protracted contract talks affecting the Austrian's performances. "David is still his own man on the pitch and is not influenced by it," the veteran forward insisted in an interview with Sky Sport.
Then, Muller made a rather amusing admission.
"It's also interesting for the audience: it's nice when there's a little bit of drama at the club," he argued. "I used to enjoy reading about that stuff - FC Hollywood - and now you can watch it live!"
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That particular episode didn't end well for Bayern, as Alaba eventually left for Real Madrid on a free transfer. However, in the grand scheme of things, the defender's departure wasn't outrageously disruptive.
It was certainly nothing compared to the current chaos engulfing the club.
Since the turn of the year, there have been dismissals, dressing-room dust-ups and dismal defeats, prompting talk of the real return of FC Hollywood after years of relative stability.
Consequently, there is now a very real fear that a season that began with talk of a treble might actually end with Bayern failing to win the Bundesliga for the first time since 2012.