After a stellar 18-year career in Germany, Thomas Muller finally said goodbye to Bayern Munich fans at this summer’s Club World Cup.
Muller leaves as a 13-time Bundesliga champions and two-time Champions League winner. Adding in countless domestic cups and the 2014 World Cup with the German national team, he is one of the most decorated players of his generation.
And now, it looks like he will be taking his talents to MLS where he is set to join the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The news was reported by The Athletic, who believe that Muller is now in advanced talks with the Canadian club to secure a move. He is out of contract, so will require no transfer fee, and is apparently willing to sign on a non-designated player deal.
One sticking point could be his ‘discovery rights’, an MLS mechanism that allows teams to get priority when negotiating for an incoming player. FC Cincinnati currently have Muller’s discovery rights so the Whitecaps will need to pay a release fee to Cincy for the player.
A similar situation arose last year when the LA Galaxy were pursuing Marco Reus, whose discovery rights were held by Charlotte FC. In that instance a fee of around $400,000 was enough to release Reus and allow him to move to the Galaxy.
The arrival of a player of Muller’s caliber would be a major boost for the Whitecaps as they look to build on an outstanding start to the 2025 MLS season. They made it to the Concacaf Champions Cup final - eliminating Inter Miami en route - and are just one point behind Western Conference leaders San Diego FC as it stands.
Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all.