Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer is hopeful Thomas Müller will finish his career at Germany’s most decorated club.
A youth team graduate Müller broke into Bayern’s first team in 2008 and hasn’t looked back since. To date, Müller has lifted 12 domestic championships, six DFB-Pokal titles and two European Cups.
In terms of individual accolades the native of Weilheim in Oberbayern has made four Bundesliga Team of the Seasons (2009/10, 2015/16, 2017/18 and 2020/21) while holding the record for most overall assists (162) and in a season (21 – 2019/20).
However, once a guaranteed starter, Müller has effectively transitioned into a squad player under Thomas Tuchel leading to reports of the German international being disillusioned about his future in Bavaria.
Müller’s present deal expires in June 2024 but club boss Herbert Hainer is optimistic he will retire at the record Bundesliga champions. “Thomas is an absolute Bayern icon and a player with great merits here. We all want him to finish his career in Munich,” he told Bild TV.
Wow – 100 wins @ChampionsLeague ☺️
Without these amazing guys next to me this would not be possible. Thank you to all my teammates all over the last years ! ?#UCL #FCBMNU #fcbayern #esmuellert #team pic.twitter.com/UGsJVtQUly
— Thomas Müller (@esmuellert_) September 21, 2023
“We’re in talks, I’m optimistic and hope he will stay with us. I think Thomas knows what he has at Bayern and we know what we have in him. As I said, I would like him to retire here and take on another role at Bayern after he retires, because he’s a legend here.”
As touched upon, Müller has been looking on from the outside having made 15 appearances this season albeit starting six games while completing the full 90 minutes twice.
There’s an incentive for him to once again fight and stay as only legendary goalkeeper Sepp Maier (706) has played more times for Bayern than him (681). One record that should be unattainable is the all-time scorer with only Gerd Müller (563) and Robert Lewandowski (344) in front of the 34-year-old (237).