Former Bayern Munich forward Thomas Müller in joining the Vancouver Whitecaps in arguably the biggest signing in club history.
Müller, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, will join the Whitecaps for the remainder of the season in an open roster spot.
Terms of the deal were not released. It includes a Designated Player option for 2026.
“Whitecaps — let’s make history,” Müller said in a video he posted online Wednesday that showed him unboxing a Vancouver jersey.
The 35-year-old Müller has spent the last 17 years with Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga, helping the club win 13 league championships and 33 total titles during that span. He scored 250 goals in 756 appearances with Bayern across all competitions, but his contract was not renewed after last season.
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Müller scored five goals. He also scored five goals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, winning the Golden Boot.
Müller's final match with Bayern came this summer at the Club World Cup, losing 2-0 in the quarterfinals to Paris Saint-Germain in Atlanta. He came into the match as a late substitute.
Müller joined Bayern’s academy as a 10-year-old in 2000. He made his senior debut under Jurgen Klinsmann in 2008 and his breakthrough came under Louis van Gaal the following season.
The club announced in a joint statement in April that it would be his last season. In a post on social media, Müller said he understood Bayern’s decision “even if this did not reflect my personal wishes.”
“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 last year's European Championship, having scored 45 goals in 131 appearances for Germany.
The Whitecaps obtained Müller’s MLS discovery rights from FC Cincinnati in exchange for up to $400,000 in General Allocation Money to complete the signing. He will occupy an international roster spot.
“Thomas is a natural leader whose passion for the game is infectious. This is a statement signing by our club and our ownership — a transformative moment for our club and our city,” Vancouver sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster said in statement.
Müller is set to arrive in Vancouver next week. His first practice and introductory news conference with the club are scheduled for Thursday.
In a video provided by the Whitecaps, Müller said: “They (the fans) can expect that I’m always 100%. You can watch my skills in YouTube videos or several TV shows, but you can expect that I’m fully into it. And for me, that’s the most important part.”
The Whitecaps (13-5-6) are currently second in the MLS Western Conference standings behind expansion San Diego FC.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
FILE - Munich's Thomas Muller celebrates a 1-0 win in a German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart, in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP, File)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party.
Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”
Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.
In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.
Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.
“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”
The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right. Reform has topped opinion polls for months, trounced the Conservatives in last May’s local elections and has welcomed a stream of defecting Tory members and officials.
Jenrick, who has continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.
Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.
The Conservatives remain the official opposition to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour.
Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.
Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.
However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.
The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the party was created nearly 200 years ago.
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
