Update — May 12th, 7:10AM EST: Bayern bosses held summit with Müller
Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia_GER) has allegedly captured more details on the situation surrounding Bayern Munich and club legend Thomas Müller. Following the reports that broke earlier this week stating that Müller might want to leave the club, the club executives have already scrambled and met with the player:
After the report that Thomas Müller is flirting with leaving due to his current reserve role, Oliver Kahn & Hasan Salihamidžić asked Müller for a meeting on Thursday. The leadership of Kahn, Salihamidžić & Hainer had already contacted Müller beforehand.
Göz AtınIn a conversation after training, the bosses made it clear to Müller that the club would continue to rely on him and that they would like him to end his career in Munich.
As noted above, the report states that club wants to retain Müller, but there is nothing regarding what the player might want at this stage. Certainly, this will be a story to follow in the coming weeks.
According to a report from Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), the Bayern Munich executives are going into damage control mode with club legend Thomas Müller amid rumors that the 33-year-old could potentially leave the club this summer:
Hasan Salihamidžić and Oliver Kahn have contacted Thomas Müller and asked for a meeting following the recent rumors of a possible departure. The bosses made it clear to Müller that they’re still relying on him and want him to retire at FC Bayern.
One could speculate that the club executives realize that Müller asking to leave the club could have disastrous effects on their own careers, but that is just a supposition at this point.
Regardless, this week has been a wild ride for Müller. First, we saw a postgame story where manager Thomas Tuchel appeared to start to get annoyed with the questions surrounding his decision to put Müller on the bench, followed by CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić saying it was a “coach’s decision.”
That would just be the precursor to a whole lot more.
A later story broke indicating that the Raumdeuter was contemplating leaving the club before another story dropped with Kahn saying that Müller leaving the club “is not going to happen.”
There was also a report from Sport1’s Kerry Hau stating that Müller had not lobbed any formal complaints over to the club and that it is conceivable that Müller could easily extend his deal and potentially finish his career as a mentor to younger players (like Bayer Leverkusen ace Florian Wirtz — if he makes the transfer to Munich).
Finally, Mario Basler addressed the situation on a podcast and inferred that Müller could be a coach killer if he does not get his way:
“I think Thomas Müller will be on the bench next year,” said the ex-pro in his podcast Basler ballert. “Bayern have other young players in the position of the veteran that the record champions have to let play there.”
But Basler warned the Munich bosses to continue to involve the veteran: “Otherwise he can be the death caller in the club.” Because Basler is certain that Müller has “a lot of power” in the club: “You have to try a few things with him, because Thomas Müller is the one who can turn off a coach’s water. If you ignore him, he quickly goes to Tegernsee.”
What is meant is: Müller would then complain to Honorary President Uli Hoeneß, who still has great influence in Bayern in the background.
Basler sees Müller in a completely different role: He is ready as an assistant coach. That’s why Basler advises Bayern: “You just have to communicate with him properly before he goes to Tegernsee.”
Whatever the case might be, the situation is concerning enough for the bosses to get proactive.
If you want more thoughts on Müller’s iffy future with the club under Thomas Tuchel, check out our Weekend Warm-up Podcast on Spotify or below: