Thomas Muller has been at Bayern Munich for his entire professional career (Picture: Getty Images)
Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn says Thomas Muller will not be leaving the club this summer, despite reports suggesting he is open to exploring new opportunities.
The 33-year-old has been at Bayern for his entire professional career, scoring 234 goals in 439 appearances for the club across all competitions.
However, he has not been a guaranteed starter under new manager Thomas Tuchel, still making 24 Bundesliga appearances, but six of those have come off the bench.
Bild reported that Muller has options and would consider a move to another big European club, if it was one where titles were up for grabs, while he also has interest from America and Saudi Arabia.
There is still just over a year left on his contract, finishing in 2024, so some clubs may want to cash in on him now, but not Bayern, who are keeping hold of him as long as possible.
‘That’s not going to happen,’ Khan told Sport Bild over the prospect of Muller leaving. ‘If it ever came to that, I would talk him out of it in no uncertain terms.
‘Thomas is fit, never injured and has an incredibly strong character. He is incredibly important to the whole team. I’m sure Thomas will play many more games for us.’
Muller is not enjoying a huge amount of game time under Thomas Tuchel (Picture: Getty Images)
Tuchel only took the Bayern job on 24 March and Muller has started four league games since then, so he is not frozen out completely and Tuchel has expressed his admiration for him.
‘I am a big Thomas Muller fan myself. He has a world-class indefinability,’ Tuchel said last month.
‘The Manchester games haven’t suited him perfectly. Otherwise, he probably would have played. Many games are Muller games.
‘Everything is OK at the moment. I was pleased with his reaction on the training ground yesterday. I was extremely impressed. He handled it in an exemplary manner. He just stepped on the gas and pulled the team along.
‘But I have to make my decisions, sometimes they are hard. There is no personal note in it. Everyone has to accept it in a competitive situation.’
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‘I would talk him out of it in no uncertain terms.’