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"The club is my family, my home, my special place," he told the Bayern website after the announcement of his departure. He has made over 400 competitive outings for Bayern, and will leave with an eye-watering collection of 27 trophies, practically one for every year he has been alive. That 'bite' has kept Alaba performing at the highest level for the past decade, and continuing to win over teammates, coaches and fans at one of the most demanding clubs in world football. "Talent is one thing, but attitude and desire is another, and David has this unquenchable desire to improve and develop," observed Bayern scout Werner Kern, the man who spotted Alaba's potential at a youth tournament in Manchester and brought him to Bavaria. He went on to make the position his own, emerging as one of the world's best wing-backs. Alaba was Bayern's starting left-back throughout 2012/13 as they bounced back to dominate all comers, claiming an unprecedented treble (for a German club) of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and Champions League. "He's a left-back, even if he doesn't think so himself," the Dutch coach famously quipped, and his successor Heynckes ultimately arrived at the same conclusion. He deployed him as a central midfielder, wide midfielder and left-back in a campaign which saw Bayern miss out on silverware across the board: second behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, beaten finalists in the DFB Cup (Dortmund again), and worst of all, beaten finalists in the UEFA Champions League, after a heart-breaking loss to Chelsea on home soil at the Allianz Arena.Īlaba had been a playmaker with boyhood club Austria Vienna and a defensive midfielder for Hoffenheim, before being repurposed as a left-back by van Gaal. Neuer and Boateng had arrived that summer, with Jupp Heynckes taking over from Louis van Gaal as head coach.Īlaba made 47 appearances in all competitions, although around 20 were as a substitute, and Heynckes seemed unsure of the Austrian's best position. He now shares the all-time record of 10 Bundesliga titles with Müller, the first coming in 2009/10 – although it wasn't really until 2011/12, following a successful loan spell with Hoffenheim, that he became a first-team regular for Bayern. Although even he probably couldn't have predicted how far those dreams would take him. The Austria defender arrived at the club almost 13 years ago, just after his 16th birthday, describing himself as "a little rascal" who "never gave up believing in his big dreams". Alaba has been an integral part of the Bayern setup for so long that it's hard to believe he is still only 28.