"I gave him a massive hug on the pitch," Manuel Neuer said, reflecting on the first moment with Müller after his final whistle as a Bayern player. "It's a moment we've shared a few times now—I did the same at the Allianz Arena after his last Bundesliga match, and again in Stuttgart when we were together with the national team [after being knocked out by Spain at Euro 2024]. I think he's had to say his goodbyes so many times now, to the fans, and to all of you here in the media. I believe he had a truly remarkable time here at FC Bayern. He gave his all for the club, for the team, and for himself, too. Needless to say, I wish him all the best for the future, both personally and professionally."

Translation:

Hi folks, now that the dust has settled a bit, I wanted to take this opportunity to say "thank you" from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for the enormous appreciation you have shown me, not only in the last 17 years, but also in the last few days.

It means a lot to me that you also enjoyed a bit of what I did on and around the football pitch.

With this in mind, thank you very much.

The other thing, and this is actually the more important point, is of course our game tomorrow against Inter Milan.

This duel to really open the door to the "Final Dahoam".

That's what really matters now, what concerns us as a team, what concerns me the most.

There's nothing negative between me and the club.

We're looking ahead and are right on track.

You don't always have to be in agreement in life to ride the same wave.

We have common goals, common interests

We can look each other in the eyes and look positively to the future.

What do you think of when you think of

FC Bayern Munich?

Red

Borussia Dortmund?

Yellow

Bayer 04 Leverkusen?

Rival

final dahoam?

Final?

Dahoam

at home? Dahoam? Thomas hasn't told me that yet. I've never heard it before. Exciting

Trainer?

Vincent

Favorite song at the moment?

On one tonight

Best meal after a great win?

Pretzel, I can't eat much after the game, a pretzel is top

Your position on an NFL team You've played a little bit besides kicker

wide receiver

Most difficult opponent in your career?

Sergio Ramos I say

Best teammate in your career?

I say Thomas

Funniest teammate in your career so far?

Phonzy

breakout star of this season?

Pavlo

Your best experience on the pitch so far?

The goal against Köln

Most untidy teammate?

I don't know, I think everyone will say me, forget what I said, I'll say King too

Who was your childhood idol?

Messi

The biggest talent in football at the moment?

I'll say Pavlo again

The best-looking player in the team?

Happy birthday to my dear Lin! 😽🎂🎁

I am truly grateful for all the things you've made. ❤️

What he (Thomas) did at the World Cup, people don't talk about it. They don't talk about it, but they should talk about it. He plays the game the right way: he defends, he attacks, he controls the ball when he has to control it, he reverses when he has to reverse it. When he has to finish, he'll finish.

He doesn't do stepovers, but when he has to perform, he performs. He does what the game asks him to do

-Thierry Henry

I’m too big a Thomas Müller fan!

Thomas was the player who had the most impact on a squad in my career. He was the second coach. Or sometimes the first coach when the coach didn’t know what to do.

-Mario Gomez

Thomas is an absolute leader. He gives you the feeling that you can relax and laugh sometimes, even when things weren’t going so well on the pitch.

-Niclas Füllkrug

As a coach, I would always put him in the team. No matter how many minutes he plays, he always does something with it. That’s Thomas. I always really enjoyed playing with him because he has a high football IQ. Eye contact was enough for us to know what action was coming next

-Miroslav Klose

Thomas is an outstanding footballer and a guy that doesn’t exist a second time. Nobody else in professional football is like Thomas

-Jamal Musiala

He is incredibly efficient and incredibly clever for football. His movements sometimes look a bit rustic, but are so often so incredibly correct and almost ingenious

-Jürgen Klopp

For me, no player embodies German football as much as Müller does,Thomas is important for the image of this team. He's won so many titles at the highest level, brings with him a huge wealth of experience, can lead his fellows, and is always a positive guy

-Franck Ribery

A dream. Thomas Müller is a dream.

-Uli Hoeneß

It's great to see the number 13 worn by another Müller. He's a good kid, he can play on the right and on the left, he can shoot with his right or left foot. He's like me

-Gerd Müller

Thomas Müller is unique. What he has achieved in football so far is a magnificent, admirable lifetime achievement. And once he steps off the big football stage, I will miss him. When he plays, Thomas is always an eye-catcher. There will never be another player like him: Just as there will be no more Franz Beckenbauer or Gerd Müller, there will be no more Thomas Müller.

Sometimes it amazes me that people literally give all the attention to the other members of the GNT while completely ignoring Thomas who has been massive for the national team, like man how can you not but admire someone with a career as hard working as Thomas Müller?

With Thomas' near retirement with the national team in mind I would like to review his international career.

Thomas came to the senior national team months before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to play 2 friendlies, and when the World Cup arrived he was an undisputed starter from the very first moment at only 21 years of age.

In the World Cup, he was a key player, he scored 5 goals and 3 assists making him the winner of the golden boot and the best young player.

In 2014 he was part of one of the most iconic teams in the history of football, again being instrumental in the win that would put the fourth star on the chest, with 5 goals and 3 more assists

Winning the silver ball of the tournament and taking the cup home, the road after that was complicated but he still became the record man of this generation

With 131 caps to his name, he is the third most-capped German player.

Germany's fourth highest goal scorer at World Cups

Sixth German player with the most goals in the history of the German national team

Top assistant in the history of the German national team

With 131 games, 45 goals and 41 assists and over 9000 minutes played (every 105 approx. minutes he made a goal contribution), Thomas owes absolutely nothing to this team, he put his soul, blood and sweat and as he said it already once he did it with love, that watching any of his games you can notice and receive, so put more respect in his name the man is a living legend

And if this is the last time we see each other in an international match, thanks for the love of the game, thanks for your effort, thanks for the happiness and even for the sadness.