'We thought we had no chance' - How Thomas Muller was convinced to join MLS 'underdogs' Vancouver Whitecaps explained by club's CEO

Muller closed his chapter at Bayern Munich, leaving as the club's record-appearance maker and joining Major League Soccer outfit Vancouver Whitecaps as a free agent. Now, the club's CEO and sporting director, Axel Schuster, has revealed the details behind the Whitecaps' successful acquisition of the legendary German.

Muller joined the ranks at Bayern as a 10-year-old in 2000, before breaking into the first team in the 2008-09 season. He went on to make a club record 756 appearances for the first team, scoring 250 goals and winning 33 titles. He joined Vancouver Whitecaps on a deal that will last for the rest of the MLS season, with an option to extend his stay as a Designated Player (DP) in 2026. Per reports, Muller is set to earn €7 million over the next 18 months. 

Speaking in an interview with BILD, the Vancouver Whitecaps' chief said: "To be honest, we ourselves initially thought we had no chance for a long time. Other, larger MLS clubs had been interested in Thomas for a while. As a German and also a listener of your podcast "Bayern Insider," I followed the reporting at home closely and at some point got the feeling: There's something wrong here, maybe something is happening after all! That's why I contacted Thomas Muller's management.

"I first inquired why a move to the MLS hadn't worked out yet. The entire league was interested in having a star like Thomas join us. I initially offered my help, as the procedures and rules are somewhat different here. I carefully emphasised our interest, but also that we were, of course, underdogs. The response was extremely positive. The Muller side told me: You have a great team, you have a great city! If Thomas were only interested in the money, he would have been somewhere else long ago. From then on, we stepped up our game.

"I think the breakthrough came during the Club World Cup. The day after FC Bayern advanced to the quarterfinals with their victory over Flamengo, we had a video call with Thomas. I remember starting by saying that we might be a small club, but we still had more experience in transfer negotiations than Thomas, after all, he'd never transferred before. Thomas laughed about it, and the atmosphere was relaxed from the start. Our coach took over and showed Thomas how we were planning for him. Jesper [Sorensen] went into detail with Thomas about tactics and what role he would play as a leader. I think that was one of the keys. We didn't want Muller as a brand ambassador or advertising figure; we wanted the player who would make us better from the start."

Muller will not his debut this weekend against San Jose Earthquakes but could be available for the match against Houston Dynamo the following week.