Three games in and, if there was even the tiniest slither of doubt, the Bundesliga title already looks like it will remain the property of Bayern Munich.
Winners of the last 10 titles, the Bavarians have burst out of the blocks this season and won their first three games in historic fashion, scoring 15 goals and conceding just one in the club’s best ever start to a campaign.
Bayern’s ominous beginning is one that will have already handed a quick reality check to those who had pretensions of rivalling them.
And a big bulk of the credit for keeping them ahead of the chasing pack following a summer when they have lost one of their most iconic figures in recent years, Robert Lewandowski, has been sent the way of sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, or Brazzo as he is more affectionately known.
‘I give Hasan Salihamidžić a grade of one [top marks] for his transfer market activities,’ former Bayern and Germany great Lothar Matthaus said.
‘The purchases and sales Brazzo has made in this transfer period up to now are great. From today’s perspective, everything at FC Bayern simply fits from front to back.’
Once the window closes in England next week, there will be an even greater focus at the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea on their respective searches for someone of a similar ilk to oversee their transfer policies, organisation behind the scenes and even culture.
Salihamidzic may well have cropped up on their radars. Bayern will no doubt be wary that there are clubs in England and across the continent in desperate need of what they have.
Bayern’s superior financial might and lure compared to their domestic rivals is obvious.
The task for Salihamidzic and the rest of the club's hierarchy is to ensure that advantage continually shows on the pitch, all Bundesliga challengers are kept at arms’ length and it translates into the Champions League too.
And Bayern’s blistering start to this season is the continuation of the work the 45 year-old Bosnian has led to restructure the club and ensure they are future proofed.
The process can be traced back to a calendar year when all of the aforementioned boxes were ticked, the German giants were at their most dominant ever and could not have looked any further from needing to change how they operated.
In 2020 Bayern completed an unforgettable clean sweep, winning all six trophies available to them under Hansi Flick with a squad that included the likes of Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic among the most-used players during their treble winning 2019/20 season, the first campaign after the departures of long-serving legends Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben.
Though amid the euphoria of their trophy-laden 12 months Salihamidzic was spotting, plotting and making the changes required to ensure they could seamlessly maintain their domestic dominance and eventually be in position to launch another, genuine Champions League challenge.
Some are describing what is now in place as Bayern Munich 2.0, a new, refreshed, hungry squad and more fluid team that is better equipped for the modern game.
Faced with the daunting task of finding a manager capable of replacing the all-conquering Flick in 2021, Salihamidzic pushed to recruit one of the best about in world football, securing the in-demand Julian Naglesmann on a five-year contract from their closest challengers RB Leipzig.
With his renowned talent-developing qualities and ability to handle big personalities, Naglesmann, still just 35, was deemed the ideal man to steer Bayern through their transition period when they still had to keep winning but also introduce a more modern style of football.
After two debut season trophies for Naglesmann, this summer presented a fresh, major challenge for Bayern when star striker Robert Lewandowski, scorer of a staggering 344 goals in 375 appearances, wanted out.
Having flirted with the exit a year earlier this time he could not be retained, eventually joining Barcelona.
But he has also not been missed so far, in part due to the capture of Sadio Mane, who was persuaded to end his six-year stay at Liverpool and has scored four times in his opening four games.
The goals are also being shared around with their 15 so far coming from nine different Bayern scorers including defenders Benjamin Pavard and Matthijs de Ligt plus one own goal.
De Ligt’s arrival from Juventus, Bayern beating Chelsea to his signature, is also indicative of a shift in their policy as they increasingly look to target some of Europe’s rising, first-team ready players and blend them with established stars. Former Ajax duo Ryan Gravenberch, 20, and Noussair Mazraoui, 24, also fit that bill.
French forward and Mathys Tel, 17, is the headline teenage arrival but far from the only one.
Behind him a whole raft of highly-rated talents born between 2002 and 2006 have arrived from across the globe to guarantee there will be quality rolling off the Bayern conveyor belt for years to come.
At a time when how clubs generate income from outgoings is just as important, Bayern have brought in £100m in one window for the first time - another notable feather in Salihamidzic’s cap.
While critics of Bayern’s Bundesliga dominance may sneer, many of their big-name European equivalents will look on at how they rule at home with envy.
Salihamidzic is considered a major reason why that is set to continue.
adesinaalamu
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Congratulations 👏🎉 to Salihamidzic Congratulations 👏🎉 to Bayern Munich Congratulations 👏🎉 to Bundesliga