Philipp Lahm himself determined his farewell to FC Bayern – and would like the same for Thomas Müller. Sepp Maier thinks that the record champion “loses a piece of his soul”. Lukas Podolski advocates more appreciation.
A farewell to Thomas Müller at Bayern Munich would be a big loss from the perspective of the former Bavarian and national team captain Philipp Lahm. “The association also lives from identification figures. Thomas is an absolute figure of identification-for the club, for the fans. And I also believe for the team,” said the 41-year-old at the DFB Foundation’s Sepp-Herberger Award.
Lahm: “In the end the player has to decide”
According to media reports, the twelve-time German champion and two-time Champions League winner will be Müller no longer received a new contract in Munich after this season. This distinguishes his situation from Lahm, who ended his career at FC Bayern 2017 from freely.
“In the end, the player also has to decide what he wants: whether he wants to continue playing or not,” said Lahm. “I stopped at the age of 33. It was my decision. I wanted to stop. But everyone has to know that for themselves. It would be wrong to give some advice.
“Would be nice if he took over function”
Lahm and Müller became world champions together in Brazil in 2014. After the end of his active career, Lahm became organizational boss of the 2024 football European Championship in Germany and later also wishes for Müller.
“I like Thomas. I am also happy when he has more time at some point that we see him more often on the golf course,” said Lahm. But “seasoned players who have shaped a nation and an association as follows: it is nice if they take on a function again at some point. It is nice if these players are preserved for football.”
Sepp Maier: FC Bayern loses “a piece of his soul”
Goalkeeper legend Sepp Maier also sees the possible farewell to Thomas Müller near Bayern Munich. “Such players make up an association, they are his soul – and it is precisely these types that are becoming less and less common today,” said Maier at Sport1: “With them, the club loses a piece of his soul.”
He does not believe that the Bayern bosses would underestimate Müller’s “emotional value”, but he was more than just one player. “He embodies the club’s identity,” said Maier. “I can’t understand the decision completely. A rather bitter end,” said the 81-year-old. In the meantime, he does not believe in a change abroad. “Thomas will end his career,” said Maier: “What is he supposed to be in America or Dubai? Thomas belongs to Munich – here he has his family, his wife, horses and everything that makes him happy.”
Podolski: Müller deserved his own decision
Müller’s former national team colleague Lukas Podolski also wanted a different way of dealing with the club legend of FC Bayern: “In the end, it is a shame that the club decreases and not the other way around. That Thomas Müller does not have it himself because I think he deserves it,” said the world champion of 2014 on the border of the Baller League about his former player. However, he also does not know the details of the contract talks.
Müller is a player who “has achieved everything with the club that is a face of the club,” said Podolski. The 39-year-old said that deserved professionals would often not be rewarded enough. “If only people are remembered when they are underground, that you can say: Okay, now a road is suddenly named after you, now the stadium is suddenly named after a stand,” he said. “But you sometimes underestimate or forget to reward and appreciate players who are currently there.”
In the audio contribution: BR24-Sport-Bayern reporter Baptized Khalil over the upcoming Müller-Fachied
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Source: BR24Sport 01.04.2025 – 6:30 p.m.
