Thomas Müller will apparently not be offered a new contract by FC Bayern. Now, further details behind this decision have emerged.
A decision regarding Thomas Müller’s future at the club has already been made internally, according to information from Sport BILD.
While a final meeting between the player and the club’s leadership is still expected to take place this week, the report states that no new contract offer will be made.
Bayern are planning without the 35-year-old. It is now up to Müller to decide for himself whether he will retire and integrate into the club board or continue his career at a new club.
MLS Clubs have shown interest in the former World Champion.
Thomas Müller to leave Bayern – No contract renewal planned
As Sport BILD reports, this turn of events came as a surprise to Müller. As recently as November, sporting director Max Eberl had clearly signalled that the club was fundamentally open to an extension.
At a press conference back in January Eberl said:
“There’s really no need for big negotiations. If he says he wants to keep going, we’ll look each other deep in the eyes, look at the squad, and then we’ll move forward.
“It’ll probably be the shortest conversation ever. We’ve already talked to him.
“In the end, we basically postponed the decision to the future, and then it’ll just be about looking each other in the eyes and saying: Hey, are you still up for it? Do you want to? What role do we have? And then we move on.”
Müller then asked for time until the spring to make a decision about his future as his desire to continue playing remained.
The club’s recent change of direction has clearly caught Müller off guard. It’s a very questionable way to treat a club legend after reassuring him that he’ll have a say about his future.
In recent talks with head coach Vincent Kompany, Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund are said to have aligned on the club’s strategy.
While our head coach is said to value Müller highly on a personal level and appreciates his influence in the dressing room, he made it clear that Müller’s playing time would not increase next season – and might even decrease.
Müller expected an offer from Bayern
Another meeting reportedly took place last week – this time between CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and representatives from Müller’s camp.
Dreesen pointed to the club’s financial situation as the main reason a contract extension is no longer feasible.
With an annual salary reportedly as high as €17m [£14.2m], Müller is among the highest earners in the squad.
Given Bayern’s tightened budget and the heavy spending of recent years, continuing to employ the veteran was deemed financially unrealistic.
As recently as January, Eberl stated publicly that talks with Müller would “take five minutes” if he wanted to stay.
According to Sport BILD, Müller therefore expected a clear offer – even if it came with reduced terms. Instead, he was informed that the club no longer planned with him.
Even though there is no longer a sporting role for Müller, Bayern reportedly want to give the long-time key player a proper farewell. A testimonial match has already been agreed upon in his last contract extension.
