Sydney FC in shock swoop for Bayern Munich legend Thomas Müller
Müller, 35, is a free agent after departing Bayern, the only club he has ever played for, at the end of the recent FIFA Club World Cup after more than 500 games across nearly two decades, and is seeking a new experience to round out his career.
Though reports have linked him to Major League Soccer in the United States – and some have gone as far as to say he has already made up his mind – this masthead can reveal that the Sky Blues have been in discussions with Müller and his representatives for several weeks about an A-League switch, and that they remain an outside chance of convincing him.
An answer either way is expected within the next week or so, with the club recently informed that they are one of the final two options he is considering. The other is in MLS, and that is believed to be his favoured option, but Sydney are still in with a shot.
Sources with knowledge of negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Müller – a 13-time Bundesliga winner, two-time UEFA Champions League winner, and part of the Germany squad that won the 2014 World Cup – had been impressed with the pitch made to him by Sydney FC.
Two of his former teammates are already at the club: Brazilian star Douglas Costa, who he played with between 2015 and 2017 at Bayern Munich, and the retired Alexander Baumjohann, Sydney's head of player management who spent a year on the books at Germany's biggest club and is believed to be spearheading the attempt to sign him.
His recruitment would be an enormous boon for the financially stricken A-League and for Sydney FC, whose board has undergone an off-season restructure with the departure of long-time chairman Scott Barlow. Jan Voss, a German-Australian business executive and president of Ferrari Australasia, has replaced Barlow as chairman, while the club's foundation chairman Walter Bugno – hugely influential in their 'Bling FC' era – is back on the board as a director.
No A-League club – not even the Sky Blues – can compete with the wages that Müller would be able to attract in the US or elsewhere; like any high-profile player who decides to move to Australia, it would involve him prioritising the low-key lifestyle he would be able to enjoy in Sydney over money.
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