Opinion: Bayern Munich are making a grave mistake with Thomas Müller

A complete and embarrassing mess.

Football is an emotional sport. It must be no surprise then, when you achieve something so exceptional that it leaves you peerless, places you in the highest echelons of the sport, you invoke every emotion possible within fans. Thomas Müller does that in a way inexplicable to those unfamiliar with him, yet deeply obvious to those that are.

And thus follows the outrage and chaos that has erupted over the weekend, following a flurry of reports that have taken the entire football world by storm. Bayern Munich have made their intentions clear: they do not want to extend Thomas Müller.

A decision of this magnitude has its reasons. But this piece aims to highlight the hypocritical and tenuous nature of possible explanations, and how the club’s own values have taken a backseat in this unfortunate saga.

Thomas Müller the legend and Thomas Müller the substitute.

The weekend has seen a diminishment of Müller’s legacy and a negative exaggeration of his current abilities. Let’s set the record straight. Thomas Müller has made more appearances for Bayern Munich than anyone else, ever. In his 17 years as a professional footballer — all of which he has spent at Bayern — Thomas Müller has been a cornerstone of the Rekordmeister’s squad across decades. His stats as a goalscorer and playmaker alike speak for themselves, but neither successfully encapsulates the true extent of his contribution to Bayern’s most successful period in history, a success that he has driven.

One could go on forever praising Müller, but the point is clear: Thomas Müller is neither an ordinary 35-year-old nor an ordinary legend. So it’s time to stop acting like he is.

All this is to say: if someone of Müller’s calibre (a calibre that is limited to Müller himself) wants to extend his contract at this club for his final year as a footballer, the expectation is that the club will extend him. He has damn well earned every right to stay at this club for one final year after everything he has done. It is how you treat legends, especially those that top your all-time charts in every imaginable statistic.

Yet the club has chosen to overlook Müller’s status as a legend and reduce him to merely his current role. A concept that is so deeply wrong on so many levels that it doesn’t sit well, because it discards the value of career-long commitment and greatness, and redefines stipulations that come hand in hand with achieving legendary status at this club. By choosing to deny Müller a renewal on the notion that he is no longer of any “value” to the team, Bayern have done just that. And we will return to the implications this has for the club, but just for a moment, let’s humour this idea — What defines value to the team?

Off the pitch: Thomas Müller is arguably irreplaceable. Don’t take it from me, take it from Jamal Musiala, who calls him his mentor. Take it from Aleksandar Pavlovic, who said Thomas coaches him. Take it from Alphonso Davies, who says Müller gives him key advice. He is a leader, a source of inspiration behind the scenes. Someone that the world’s best youngsters look up to, admire, and actively learn from.

Then comes sporting value, which seems to be the bigger issue. The idea that Thomas Müller is “no longer any good”.

Look: no one’s saying that he is his best self, far from it. In fact, I brought it up myself last year, discussing and justifying tactically why Müller isn’t starting (spoiler alert, it’s not because his ability has severely diminished). He has publicly accepted his role as a substitute, and despite personal frustration (which came through in his documentary), he doesn’t complain excessively to the media.

But the idea that he isn’t good enough to play for this club anymore? Nonsense.

With Müller, it is impossible to look at this with basic statistics, because his game is far beyond that. But even then, it is excessively clear that he still has what it takes.

Last season, Thomas Müller had the joint most assists amongst all Bayern players (12), despite having played over 1,000 fewer minutes than Leroy Sané and Harry Kane, both of whom managed the same number. He also scored 7 times, despite being out of favour and starting just 24 games.

Let’s take a quick look at this season, where minutes have been even harder to come by for the Raumdeuter, and compare him to other outfielders around his salary bracket (more on the salary in a bit).

Data from FBref and Capology

This reflects a deeper issue concerning players at the club, one that has been discussed extensively. However, it is hypocritical for Bayern to apply these so-called “performance standards” exclusively to the club’s legendary record-appearance holder.

You need experience to win games at the level Bayern play at. And that’s exactly what Müller brings to the table. He started a semi-final against Real Madrid last season and delivered what can only be described as a typical Müller performance — no flash, simply silently elevating the level of play. It was even worth a mention in the post-game observations.

So, let’s stop pretending that Müller is of no value to this team. It is embarrassing that it has come to this, that a legend of this club needs to ‘prove himself’ to play his final season at FC Bayern. But even when it has, Müller has proved to possess value that no one else can provide.

Salary, cost-cutting, hypocrisy, management

Next, the most pressing explanation for this decision in the media: “financial common-sense”, and an “imbalance between salary and performance.”

Let’s talk financials. Bayern Munich have made their intention to cut salaries extremely clear, but have done absolutely no work to actually reduce them. Instead, they have offered large packages to a core group of players and are making plans to sign superstar Florian Wirtz. But the one, single cost-cutting measure that the club will take after years of planning to lower the wage bill, is to refuse an extension to Thomas Müller.

Not by trying to sell players who have been mediocre for ages: Leroy Sané, Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry (refer to the table again!) — all of whom earn salaries in the same bracket as Müller, but don’t play up to their earning standard.

No, rather by refusing a legend of this club one final season.

Bayern are far from being in a dire position financially. The club announces record turnovers every AGM. This is not a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save the club. No, this is the result of a lack of long-term thinking and poor planning. The club has failed to cut its wage bill, and are scapegoating Müller in a stunningly poor fashion, which I can’t imagine will have much impact on the club’s financials anyway, to give way to its reckless spending over the years.

Look, we all want Bayern to reduce the wage bill, but your premier method to do so should never, ever be kicking a legend out of the club.

And this hypocrisy shines through in the case of Manuel Neuer, a legend in his own right. The goalkeeping position has become a financial blackhole, of sorts. They signed Alexander Nübel to replace Neuer in 2020, and pay over 6 million euros every year as his salary, despite him being on loan for ages. They signed Daniel Peretz and Jonas Urbig for the same cause recently for a total of 15 million. Neuer, despite being a ‘starter’ himself is beginning slowly to lose his fitness and ability. He has been injured on 3 separate occasions this season and is currently injured for an indefinite period. Yet, when it came to renewing the legendary Neuer, Bayern didn’t blink an eye and signed the contract, extending his stay until 2026 for another 22 million euros a year.

Frankly, that is exactly how a legend deserves to be treated at FC Bayern. No caveats: if you want to stay, you stay. Where is that same energy with Thomas Müller? It is baffling how a mere 17 million euros (Müller’s current salary) splits the two parties. Or does it? Because the amount could be far less if Bayern tried.

Where is the offer?

Look, it is understandable if Bayern don’t want to pay Müller his current salary for his last year. It would be a far more amicable and mutual split if there were a discrepancy over Müller’s salary demands and the club’s renewal terms. In fairness, it is difficult to argue that Müller should remain a top earner for the minutes the coach gives him from the club’s perspective.

But as it stands, there has apparently been no offer to the player at all! It is deeply disrespectful to refuse contract talks outright when Müller wants to stay.

The entire concept of this being about performance or salary, regardless of what one thinks about it, goes flying out the window when no offers have been presented at all. The club has seemingly decided to assume that Müller wouldn’t take a pay cut without offering him one. If there is one thing you take away from the article, it must be this: the club is displaying incompetency of the highest order in its handling of the entire situation. Broken promises, false statements in the media, and internal battles have culminated embarrassingly in Bayern Munich failing to propose an extension to Thomas Müller at all.

What does this mean for FC Bayern?

This sets a precedent that in favour of spending money, Bayern are willing to overlook their record appearance holder. What, then, does it mean to devote a career to this club if you are discarded so easily, the choice to stay your final years taken from you without an afterthought?

Sure: no one is bigger than the club. But the club is nothing but the sum of its greats. Do not get it twisted: Müller has been stripped of his choice to stay at this club. Müller’s departure — be it from the sport or the club — should always have been a decision that he made on his terms. Bayern have taken that away from him, and made the choice themselves. And if nothing else is, this is certainly unforgivable,

Bayern Munich has forever talked a big game about its values. Mia San Treue: We are loyal. Mia San Familie: We are family. But that sense of family and loyalty is missing when it comes to Müller.

It is a slippery slope when a club loses the very values it was built upon.

“I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”
— William Shakespeare, Othello (Act 2, Scene 3)

What do you think of the Müller situation? Do you agree with the piece? Or is Bayern making the right choice? Tell us everything in the comments below!