Thomas Müller

Thomas Müller (born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for club Bayern Munich and the German national team.

He has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking midfielder, second striker, centre forward, and on either wing.

Regarded as one of the best players of his generation, he has been praised for his positioning, teamwork, stamina, and work-rate, and has shown consistency in both scoring and creating goals.

A product of Bayern's youth system, Müller has represented the club ever since.

With Bayern he has won a record twelve Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, eight DFL-Supercups, two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.

Müller played as a youth for TSV Pähl, and at the age of 10 he made the 50 km journey to join local Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in 2000.

He progressed through the youth system and was part of the team that finished runner-up in the Under 19 Bundesliga in 2007.

Growing up, his favorite player was Giovane Élber.

He made two more Regionalliga appearances in the 2007–08 season, while continuing to play for the under-19 team.

The following season, Bayern's second string qualified for the newly formed 3. Liga, and Müller established himself as a key player – he played in 32 out of 38 matches and scored 15 times to make him the league's fifth top scorer.

He made his debut for the reserve team in March 2008 when he replaced Stephan Fürstner in a Regionalliga match against SpVgg Unterhaching, in which he scored.

Müller became involved in the first-team under then manager Jürgen Klinsmann; he appeared in pre-season friendlies, and made his full debut on 15 August 2008, when he came on as a substitute for Miroslav Klose for the last ten minutes of a Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV.

He made his first-team breakthrough in the 2009–10 season after Louis van Gaal was appointed as the main coach; he played almost every game as the club won the league and cup double and reached the 2010 UEFA Champions League final.

Despite Müller feeling that his performance did not go well, he made three more Bundesliga appearances that season and made his Champions League debut on 10 March 2009 when he was substituted on in the 72nd minute for Bastian Schweinsteiger in a 7–1 win over Sporting CP.

He scored Bayern's last goal as they won the tie 12–1 on aggregate.

In February 2009, Müller signed his first contract for the senior team, a two-year deal effective from the 2009–10 season, along with reserve teammate Holger Badstuber.

Müller was prepared to be loaned or even transferred away to find first-team football, but when Louis van Gaal was appointed manager, both Müller and Badstuber became fixtures in the Bayern first team from the start of the season.

In the first few matches, Müller was a regular substitute, and on 12 September 2009, he was brought on against Borussia Dortmund and scored two goals in a 5–1 victory.

Three days later, he scored another brace in a 3–0 Champions League victory over Maccabi Haifa.

He rounded off September by being named the Bundesliga Player of the Month and earned praise from his namesake, legendary former Bayern and Germany striker Gerd Müller.

After the Haifa match, Müller was in the starting XI for almost every match, only missing one match, a Champions League match against Bordeaux, for which he was suspended, because he was sent off in an earlier match against the same team.

Müller earned a call-up to the Germany national team in 2010.

At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he scored five goals in six appearances as Germany finished in third place.

He was named the Best Young Player of the tournament and won the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer, with five goals and three assists.

In February 2010, Müller signed a new contract with Bayern Munich through 2013.

During the second half of the season, Müller continued to be a regular first-team starter, usually playing in a central striking role due to the availability of other wide players Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben.

In April 2010, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win against title rivals Schalke 04, and in the penultimate league match of the season, he scored the first hat-trick of his career, in a 3–1 win over VfL Bochum which effectively secured the German title for Bayern.

The title was confirmed a week later with a 3–1 win at Hertha BSC, a match which Müller started.

For the season, he played in all 34 Bundesliga matches, starting 29, and recorded 13 goals and 11 assists.

Bayern and Müller were back in Berlin the following week, to face Werder Bremen in the final of the DFB-Pokal.

Müller started the match and Bayern won 4–0 to complete the domestic double.

Müller scored four goals and made two assists during the competition, which made him its leading scorer for the season.

Bayern's season ended in pursuit of a first treble, in the 2010 Champions League Final against Inter Milan at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

It was not to be, however, as they lost 2–0, with both goals coming from Diego Milito.

Müller was in the starting line-up and had a key chance just after half-time, with Bayern 1–0 down, but his shot was saved by Júlio César.

Müller felt particularly disappointed by this defeat, but he ended his first season as a first-team player with 52 matches played and 19 goals in all competitions.

After scoring as Bayern lost the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, Müller scored 23 goals in the 2012–13 season as Bayern won a historic treble; the league title, cup and Champions League.

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup he played a major role in helping the team win the trophy, scoring five goals and receiving the Silver Ball as the tournament's second-top player and the Silver Boot as the second-top goalscorer, and was also named in the World Cup All-Star XI and in the Dream Team.

Müller is the most decorated German footballer in history, with 33 trophies.

He broke the Bundesliga record for assists by providing 21 in a season (a record in the top five leagues jointly held with Lionel Messi in La Liga) and scored 14 goals as Bayern won a second treble in the 2019–20 season.