Germany the great Thomas Muller will end its 25 -year association with the Bayern Munich at the end of the current season.
The 35 -year -old has played most games in the history of the club with 743, while he is third in his list of scorers of all time with 247 goals.
The attacker midfielder, who also plays as a second striker, arrived through the Bayern Academy to make his senior debut in 2008 and has won two champions leagues and 12 bundesliga titles between 33 trophies in total with German giants.
“It has been an incredible trip, formed by unique experiences, great meetings and unforgettable triumphs,” said Muller, whose contract ends in June.
“I feel immense gratitude and joy to make this race with my beloved club. The special connection with the club and our fantastic fans will always remain.
“What I want as a farewell should be clear: titles that we can celebrate together, and moments that we will remember with love for a long time. We are going to give everything in the coming weeks to return the title of the League to Munich.”
Muller, who scored 45 goals for Germany in 131 appearances, won the Golden Boot in the 2010 World Cup and was part of the German team that won the 2014 World Cup.
“I could have easily imagined to assume this role [with Bayern] Next year, “he admitted, while the club’s CEO, Jan-Christian Dresen, said:” The most important thing is that we have found a mutual solution.
“Thomas Muller is one of the best personalities of players that this club has produced and, therefore, was important for us to find a fair and friendly agreement.”
Muller has turned out 24 times for the Bavarian team in the Bundesliga this campaign, scoring once, but has only started eight times.
Bayern Munich said they would mark Muller’s departure with a testimony and his final opportunity to play competitive will come during the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, which begins on June 15.
The president of Bayern Munich, Herbert Hainer, said: “Thomas Muller is the definition of a Bavarian fairy tale career. It is among the most prominent personalities in the history of Bayern the FC.”
The sports director Christoph Freund said: “Thomas Muller: Without tricks, without a show, only an incredible amount of instinct and extraordinary reading of the game, a pure soccer player. There will never be another like him, that is safe, and internalized the Bayern of the FC from a young age. This decision was extremely difficult, as everyone can understand.”
Bayern has a nine -point advantage over Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga and faces Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
