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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Potter, who will head from Western Force to the NSW Waratahs in the next Super Rugby season, endured a frustrating night on a personal level in Brisbane. And former Wallabies captain, Michael Hooper, this week suggested Hunter Paisami be injected into the centres for the Melbourne Test, a move that would shift Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to the wing and bump Potter out of the side. The London-born 27-year-old lived a period of his youth in Melbourne and said it would be a dream to play at the MCG. "It's a mecca of sport, this place, in my eyes," Potter said. "If I can be out here on Saturday night against the British and Irish Lions, it would be a pretty special place to play the game." Potter was in the crowd the last time the Wallabies hosted the Lions in Melbourne, in 2013. Wallabies winger Harry Potter has rubbished Clive Woodward's suggestion there is a "losing mentality" in Australian rugby ahead of the do-or-die second Test against the Lions in Melbourne. England's World Cup-winning coach Woodward criticised the Wallabies after captain Harry Wilson's decision to kick the ball out to end the first Test in Brisbane rather than chase another try. It might have come as some relief to Wallabies fans that their underdogs weren't mauled by the Lions in the series-opening 27-19 defeat. But Potter on Wednesday said Joe Schmidt's men aren't content with simply competing with the Lions. "It's pretty ridiculous to suggest that the 23 people who played on the weekend have a mentality of losing," Potter said at the MCG, which will host the second Test on Saturday night. "We went out there to win the game, and we didn't win the game. "But it was our intention very much and you could tell from every player in the team we wanted to win that game." He said it had been tough looking back at the first Test, in which the Wallabies were out-muscled by the tourists and trailed 24-5 after 42 minutes. Two late tries added some respectability to the scoreboard and gave the Wallabies belief they can turn the tables in Melbourne, with Potter urging his team to heed the lessons learnt. They could also take pointers from the aggressive performance of the First Nations and Pasifika team, which ruffled the Lions' feathers in a narrow 24-19 defeat on Tuesday night. "It felt like we didn't put our best foot forward, particularly in the first 50 or 60 minutes," Potter said of the Wallabies' first Test showing. "There were a lot of lessons to take out of that one. "They're an incredibly strong team and we know that we've got to come out better and start the game stronger. "But I suppose there were some positive signs towards the end of the game. "If we can string enough things together then we'll go a lot better than what we did." Potter said the Wallabies had no need to address the do-or-die nature of the second Test, as they seek to emulate the 2001 Australian side that recovered from 1-0 down to claim a famous 2-1 series win against the Lions. "Everyone's on the same page; you know you have to win this game to keep the series alive," Potter said. "Emotionally it's very simple this week and we all know the task at hand, so I don't think anyone's got any questions about what's at stake." Potter, who will head from Western Force to the NSW Waratahs in the next Super Rugby season, endured a frustrating night on a personal level in Brisbane. And former Wallabies captain, Michael Hooper, this week suggested Hunter Paisami be injected into the centres for the Melbourne Test, a move that would shift Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to the wing and bump Potter out of the side. The London-born 27-year-old lived a period of his youth in Melbourne and said it would be a dream to play at the MCG. "It's a mecca of sport, this place, in my eyes," Potter said. "If I can be out here on Saturday night against the British and Irish Lions, it would be a pretty special place to play the game." Potter was in the crowd the last time the Wallabies hosted the Lions in Melbourne, in 2013.
