Why Thomas Muller Will Spend the Rest of His Career at Bayern Munich

Throughout last summer, Thomas Muller was a hot name in the international press as Manchester United pursued his signature. In August, Bild (h/t the Mirror) reported an €85 million bid for the Bayern Munich attacker was turned down, and the next month, typically non-sensationalist magazine Kicker claimed the Red Devils tabled a €120 million offer. But Bayern didn't bite.

Instead, Muller remained a Bayern player and had a brilliant first half of the 2015-16 season, scoring 21 goals and assisting six more. And for his efforts, the 26-year-old was handed a lucrative new contract. Approximately one-and-a-half seasons after extending his stay at the Allianz Arena until 2019, he committed to an extra two years at the club with nearly double the salary; according to Bild, he's become the highest-paid player in club history, with a wage of €15 million per year.

The turning down of United's megaoffer and subsequent extension essentially takes Muller off the transfer market for for several years, and it would be a surprise to see even rumors of interest in him until his contract begins to run down.

A lot can change over the course of a five-and-a-half year deal, and there are of course no guarantees. But with his contract set to run until shortly before his 32nd birthday, Muller more likely than not will see out the rest of his career at the Allianz Arena.

When his contract expires, Muller will be past his prime and most likely less of a hot commodity. At the same time, he'll be a club hero, the kind of player fans and management will want to keep in Munich. He's a local lad, a native Bavarian who joined Bayern at an early age and worked his way into the team. Symbolically, he's invaluable. That's why even a record transfer offer wasn't enough to convince Bayern to sell him.

There are some players who simply cannot be replaced, and to sell a player such as Muller in his prime would be to sell a piece of the club's soul.

It's quite clear Bayern intend to bring Muller into the club leadership in some way or another, hence the superlative wage, €3 million per season more than Jerome Boateng earned with his extension the same day. Perhaps Muller will be made captain once Philipp Lahm retires. He will in all likelihood be Bayern's only Bavarian starter by that time and has the heart and fighting spirit needed in leadership positions.

Even if he isn't among the captains, he is and will continue to be an indispensable member of the Bayern team. The club will want to decrease his wage as he progresses through his 30s, but it's hard to see them wanting to let him go.

It may be true some players dream of playing abroad in their latter years, and that is possible for Muller. Again, anything can happen in a few years' time, and the player might follow in Bastian Schweinsteiger's footsteps. But he also could follow Lahm's model and pledge—as Lahm did to SportBild (h/t the Press Association, via ESPN FC)—to retire a Bayern player.

Schweinsteiger made it clear from an early stage in his career he intended to eventually play abroad, but as of yet, Muller hasn't. And if being made the most expensive footballer in history (presumably with the wages to match) wasn't enough to make him pressure the Bayern board to sell him, it's hard to see him having a particularly burning desire to move abroad.

Thus, the most likely scenario is Muller will spend the rest of his career at Bayern. If the club need him as a symbol, his eventual downturn in quality won't force him out of the door. And he's turned down massive riches and fame to stay with the club of his youth, so it's hard to see him going anywhere else.

More likely than not, Muller will be remembered at Bayern the way Paolo Maldini is at Milan. What an honor that would be.

@Mr_Bundesliga