MUNICH (AP) — Thomas Müller will end his “incredible journey” with Bayern Munich this summer after 25 years at his boyhood club but says he wasn’t ready to leave.
The 35-year-old midfielder, whose contract is set to expire after the season, made the announcement Saturday in a joint statement with Bayern.
Click to Gallery
FILE - Bayern's Thomas Mueller, left, and Leroy Sane celebrate after a goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
FILE - Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller celebrates winning the German championship after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FC Cologne and FC Bayern Munich in Cologne, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
FILE - Bayern's Thomas Mueller holds the trophy after winning the Bundesliga title after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FC Augsburg at the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, Germany, Saturday, May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
Bayern's Thomas Mueller, left, Harry Kane, center, and Kim Min-jae celebrate after a goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Thomas Mueller reacts during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrate after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
On Instagram, Müller wrote that he respected Bayern’s decision not to offer him a new contract for next season “even if this did not reflect my personal wishes.”
Müller has helped Bayern win a record 12 Bundesliga titles and two Champions League crowns — 33 trophies in total, the team said. But his playing time has been limited recently.
“It’s clear that today is not like any other day for me,” Müller said. “My 25 years as an FC Bayern Munich player will come to an end in the summer. It’s been an incredible journey, shaped by unique experiences, great encounters and unforgettable triumphs.”
Müller made his Bayern debut under Jürgen Klinsmann in 2008 and his breakthrough came under Louis van Gaal the following season. He joined the club’s academy at age 10 in the summer of 2000.
He’s scored 247 goals and has made a club-record number of appearances with 743 matches but his game time has dwindled.
Müller has played in 36 games in all competitions this season, most recently in Bayern’s 3-1 win over Augsburg on Friday. However, he only started 12 of those games and has often come off the bench only in the final minutes.
"I feel immense gratitude and joy that I got to make this career with my beloved club,” Müller said in a club statement. “The special connection to the club and our fantastic fans will always remain. What I want as a farewell should be clear: titles we can celebrate together, and moments we’ll remember fondly for a long time.”
He didn’t mention retirement, leaving open the possibility he could represent another club for the first time since he left his local club TSV Pähl for Bayern a quarter of a century ago.
There could be more titles to come. Bayern leads the Bundesliga and faces Inter Milan in the Champions League quarterfinals. The final will be played at Bayern’s home stadium.
“We’re going to give our all in the coming weeks to bring the league title back to Munich and reach our coveted ‘Finale Dahoam’ (final at home). Let’s do it together!”
The team said Müller’s final game with Bayern will be at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June and July.
“Thomas Müller is the definition of a Bavarian fairytale career; he grew in Bavaria and with Bayern,” club president Herbert Hainer said. “Nobody has won more Bundesliga titles, and 33 trophies in total so far speak volumes. He ranks among the most outstanding personalities in FC Bayern history.”
Müller retired from international soccer after the European Championship last year, having made 131 appearances for Germany.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Bayern's Thomas Mueller, left, and Leroy Sane celebrate after a goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
FILE - Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller celebrates winning the German championship after the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FC Cologne and FC Bayern Munich in Cologne, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
FILE - Bayern's Thomas Mueller holds the trophy after winning the Bundesliga title after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FC Augsburg at the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich, Germany, Saturday, May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
Bayern's Thomas Mueller, left, Harry Kane, center, and Kim Min-jae celebrate after a goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Thomas Mueller reacts during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrate after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential 2028 White House candidate, stood awkwardly in the Oval Office as President Donald Trump signed executive orders and assailed his political opponents on Wednesday, not long after she delivered a speech nearby that offered soft criticism of him but emphasized shared priorities.
At the top of his remarks, Trump praised the second-term Democratic governor as a “very good person” who has done an “excellent job" — a sharp departure from his tone in his first presidency toward Whitmer, once one of his fiercest opponents. She was feet from his desk when he later signed a pair of memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two of his critics and signed an executive order exacting retribution against a law firm whose work he opposed.
Whitmer's office later said in a statement that she was “surprised” that she was brought into the Oval Office and that "her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event.”
Whitmer was in Washington to deliver a “Build, America, Build” address in which she called for bipartisan cooperation to strengthen American manufacturing. She was at the White House for her second one-on-one meeting with Trump in less than a month, this time to talk about tariffs that were expected to disproportionately affect Michigan, whose economy is closely tied to an auto industry reliant on trade with Canada, Mexico and other countries.
Whitmer’s approach stands in stark contrast to that of other high-profile Democratic governors, many of whom are also seen as potential contenders for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination. But Whitmer faces a more challenging political landscape than leaders such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker or California Gov. Gavin Newsom as she represents a state with a divided state legislature and that went for Trump in two of the last three elections.
But even Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of a state that voted for Trump in 2024, has taken a more critical approach toward Trump, telling reporters Tuesday that Trump is “looking to screw over our farmers” with tariffs.
In her speech Wednesday, which came before Trump announced he was pausing tariffs in most nations except for China, Whitmer highlighted areas of agreement with Trump on tariffs but criticized how they had been implemented.
“I understand the motivation behind the tariffs, and I can tell you, here’s where President Trump and I do agree. We do need to make more stuff in America,” said Whitmer, before adding, “I’m not against tariffs outright, but it is a blunt tool. You can’t just pull out the tariff hammer to swing at every problem without a clear defined end-goal.”
Once one of Trump’s most vocal critics during his first term and the campaign trail last year, Whitmer has adopted a more measured tone toward the president since his reelection, delivering multiple speeches in which she has called for finding “common ground.”
“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” Whitmer said during a discussion after her speech. “My oath to the people of Michigan is to continue to show up, even when it means I’m going to get my lunch handed to me.”
Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jared Polis directly responded to Whitmer's speech Wednesday, saying the “tariff hammer” Whitmer referred to “winds up hitting your own hand rather than the nail.”
“Tariffs are bad outright because they lead to higher prices and destroy American manufacturing,” Polis said on social media.
Pritzker has remained a leading voice of state-level opposition to Trump, sharply criticizing the new tariffs this week. Meanwhile, Newsom appealed directly to international partners, urging them to spare his state from retaliatory measures and declaring, “California is not Washington, D.C.”
Whitmer's balance was seen in her address Wednesday and the conversation with former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson afterward. She agreed with Trump on the need to build more in America but made it clear that she disagrees with his approach to tariffs, emphasizing that such a shift “doesn’t happen overnight.”
“There’s not a shortcut here. Strategic reindustrialization must be a bipartisan project that spans multiple presidential administrations,” Whitmer said in her address. “We need to be strategic about tariffs on the technology we actually want to make in America.”
Whitmer — who has less than two years left in office because of term limits — has spent much of this year traveling outside Michigan on international trade trips and visits to Washington, D.C., and other states, following a 2024 in which she dedicated considerable time campaigning for fellow Democrats.
Despite this, she reiterated on Wednesday that she is not signaling a run for president in 2028, though her speech is unlikely to quiet the speculation.
“This year and in the years to come — no matter who’s in the White House — we need to be betting on American workers. We need to bring chip manufactures back home. Let’s dominate the seas and the skies and the roads. Let’s innovate and let’s build,” Whitmer said in closing.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks with former television journalist Gretchen Carlson, not shown, at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gives a policy speech at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer arrives to give a policy speech at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gives a policy speech at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gives a policy speech at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gives a policy speech at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks with former television journalist Gretchen Carlson at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Former television journalist Gretchen Carlson speaks with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, not shown, at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gives a policy speech at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks with former television journalist Gretchen Carlson, not shown, at an event on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
