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Chris Wright, Toe Poke writer
Having been with the club for the past 24 years, Thomas Müller took his rightful place among the venerable Bayern Munich greats by becoming the Bundesliga giant’s record appearance maker on Sunday.
Despite finding first-team minutes a little hard to come by this season, the 34-year-old forward started in Bayern’s 2-0 win over Freiburg to play in the 710th competitive game of his distinguished career, more than any other Bayern player in history.
Born in a small town around 30 miles south of Munich, Müller joined the Bavarians as a 10-year-old in the summer of 2000 and made his way through the ranks, excelling at youth level before eventually making his first-team debut during the 2008-09 season under then-coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
Despite looking as though he has barely aged a day since, the 34-year-old has represented Bayern in 17 seasons and has now surpassed the great Sepp Maier to reach the top of the club’s appearance list.
Müller has coupled his phenomenal staying power with a trophy haul to match: 12 Bundesliga titles (including 11 consecutive championships claimed between 2012-13 and 2022-23), as well as six German Cups, eight German Super Cups, two Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups, plus a variety of individual goal-scoring awards and accolades.
Müller has weighed in with 245 goals in all competitions, which puts him third on Bayern’s star-studded list of all-time top goal scorers behind only Robert Lewandowski (344 goals in 375 games) and the late, great Gerd Müller (563 goals in 605 games). Not bad for a player who defies description and cannot be easily categorised as a striker, midfielder or winger.
Müller has also played under 11 different permanent head coaches at Bayern: Klinsmann, Jupp Heynckes (in two separate stints), Louis van Gaal, Andries Jonker, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Niko Kovač, Hansi Flick, Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel and the incumbent Vincent Kompany.
Alongside inheriting the club’s overall appearance record, Müller can also boast having made more appearances in the Champions League (153 games), the German Cup (66) and German Super Cup (12) than any other Bayern player in history — and all while remaining one of the team’s most enduringly charming and expressive characters.
Munich’s mischief-maker
Müller has become firmly established as a fan favourite among the Bayern faithful by virtue of his unfaltering effort on the pitch married with a resolutely unserious approach away from it.
When it comes to Müller’s greatest hits, the archive is deep. There are the old classics like the awkward dancing and pretending to use a passport as a phone to evade journalists in airport arrivals.
He’s also unashamedly keen to seize any opportunity to don his lederhosen and pose for Oktoberfest-themed photos with his teammates.
The moment you’ve all been waiting for… 😎🥨#Paulaner #MiaSanMia #Ad pic.twitter.com/f3YagrB5Ge
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) August 29, 2023
Cementing his position as a man of the people, Müller made sure to share the Bundesliga trophy with the Bayern fans by clambering up the stadium fencing and allowing them to touch the hallowed silver shield after wrapping up the 2021-22 title.
Thomas Muller wanted to make sure the fans got the chance to hold the Bundesliga trophy 🏆👏 pic.twitter.com/vESdtshMtN
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 12, 2022
We also can’t think of many other players who would announce contract extensions by faithfully recreating old photographs of their childhood bedrooms.
And if all that weren’t enough, Müller has even managed to create his very own meme template by referring to ex-teammate Robert Lewandowski as “LewanGOALski” during a postmatch interview and swiftly breaking the internet — well, almost.
🗣”We in Bayern we have Robert Lewangoalski… you know Robert LewandGOALski!” 😭
I think Thomas Muller’s pun game is not as strong as his assist making! 🤣@lewy_official @esmuellert_ pic.twitter.com/4bVkGvLtpQ
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) June 9, 2020
Who was Sepp Maier?
Having also graduated from Bayern’s academy ranks as a teenager, Maier played 709 times for the Bavarian giants between 1962 and 1980. A stalwart for both club and country, the legendary goalkeeper won four Bundesliga titles with Bayern as well as four German Cups, three European Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. He was also a World Cup winner with Germany in 1974, two years after also emerging victorious at the 1972 European Championship.
Widely recognised as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Maier was named German Footballer of the Year three times and formed part of Bayern’s indomitable team of the 1970s alongside such fellow luminaries as Franz Beckenbauer and the aforementioned Gerd Müller.
Europe’s one-club men
Thomas Müller’s unwavering allegiance to Bayern makes him one of the most prominent one-club players active today, having spent 16 consecutive seasons playing senior football for the Bundesliga giants.
Indeed, the only one of Müller’s contemporaries across all of Europe’s Big Five leagues who came close to matching both his loyalty and longevity is veteran centre-back Tony Jantschke, who hung his boots up in the summer after 16 seasons at German top-tier side Borussia Mönchengladbach.
There are a few more big names up at the top of the list, but none have spent quite as long plugging away for the same club as Müller (and Jantschke). In the Spanish top flight, Iker Muniain, Óscar de Marcos and Koke have begun their 16th seasons with Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid respectively.
However, it should be noted that Müller is still some way short of being crowned the ultimate one-club man across all of European football. That esteemed honour goes to 38-year-old Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who is now in his 22nd continuous season at CSKA Moscow.