Thomas Müller jokes he's missing Manuel Neuer as Vancouver adventure begins

MUNICH (AP) — Thomas Müller has a lot to adapt to with the Vancouver Whitecaps after 25 years at Bayern Munich.

First up, flying without an old friend.

Aboard the plane taking him to Canada and Major League Soccer, Müller joked it was the first time in 15 years he'd flown without Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper who's been his longtime teammate for Bayern and the German national team.

“I’m on my flight to Vancouver. I’m looking for the GOAT. Can you help me? I cannot find him anywhere,” Müller said in a video on Instagram.

“It’s my first flight without Manuel Neuer since maybe 15 years, I don’t know. I’m very excited to come to Vancouver to play for the Whitecaps. Fingers crossed for my first games. See you there.”

The 35-year-old forward admitted to feeling “a little bit nervous” in comments to German broadcaster Sky Sport. “It’s the first time in a very long time that I’m joining a new team.”

Müller joined Bayern's academy as a 10-year-old in 2000 and had spent his entire career with the German champion, winning a record 13 Bundesliga titles, two Champions Leagues and the World Cup with Germany in 2014.

At Vancouver International Airport, fans cheered as waved flags as Müller walked through sliding doors after clearing customs. He then joined fans at an airport restaurant to watch the Whitecaps face Canadian Premier League club Forge FC in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals.

Müller's last game for Bayern was a quarterfinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain at the Club World Cup in Atlanta, after a months-long farewell from the club. Bayern announced in April it wouldn't be extending his contract. Müller said he understood “even if this did not reflect my personal wishes.”

The following weeks saw emotional scenes with teammates, club officials and fans as Müller hit personal milestones — passing his 500th Bundesliga game and 750th game in total for Bayern — and wrapped up yet another German title.

Vancouver said last week Müller will join the Whitecaps for the remainder of the season in an open roster spot, with a Designated Player option for 2026.

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New Vancouver Whitecaps player Thomas Muller spends time with fans as he arrives from Germany at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

New Vancouver Whitecaps player Thomas Muller, center, dances as fans sing after arriving from Germany at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

New Vancouver Whitecaps player Thomas Muller is greeted by Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow, right, as he arrives from Germany at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

New Vancouver Whitecaps player Thomas Muller walks with members of the Musqueam First Nation as they drum and sing, after arriving from Germany at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

New Vancouver Whitecaps player Thomas Muller arrives from Germany at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

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)

FILE - Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, left, and Bayern's Thomas Muller react after the German Supercup final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — For several weeks, international journalists and camera crews have been scurrying up to people in Greenland's capital to ask them for their thoughts on the twists and turns of a political crisis that has turned the Arctic island into a geopolitical hot spot.

President Donald Trump insists he wants to control Greenland but Greenlanders say it is not for sale. The island is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and the prime minister of that country has warned that if the U.S. tries to take Greenland by force, it could potentially spell the end of NATO.

Greenlanders walking along the small central shopping street of the capital Nuuk have a hard time avoiding the signs that the island is near the top of the Western news agenda.

Scores of journalists have arrived from outlets including The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera as well as from Scandinavian countries and Japan.

They film Nuuk's multicolored houses, the snowcapped hills and the freezing fjords where locals go out in small boats to hunt seals and fish. But they must try to cram their filming into about five hours of daylight — the island is in the far north and the sun rises after 11 a.m. and sets around 4 p.m.

Along the quiet shopping street, journalists stand every few meters (feet), approaching locals for their thoughts, doing live broadcasts or recording stand-ups.

Local politicians and community leaders say they are overwhelmed with interview requests.

Juno Berthelsen, MP for the Naleraq opposition party that campaigns for independence in the Greenlandic parliament, called the media attention “round two,” referring to an earlier burst of global interest following Trump's first statements in 2025 that he wanted to control Greenland.

Trump has argued repeatedly that the U.S. needs control of Greenland for its national security. He has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.

Berthelsen said he has done multiple interviews a day for two weeks.

“I'm getting a bit used to it,” he said.

Greenland's population is around 57,000 people —- about 20,000 of whom live in Nuuk.

“We’re very few people and people tend to get tired when more and more journalists ask the same questions again and again,” Berthelsen said.

Nuuk is so small that the same business owners are approached repeatedly by different news organizations — sometimes doing up to 14 interviews a day.

Locals who spoke to the AP said they want the world to know that it's up to Greenlanders to decide their own future and suggested they are perplexed at Trump's desire to control the island.

“It’s just weird how obsessed he is with Greenland,” said Maya Martinsen, 21.

She said Trump is “basically lying about what he wants out of Greenland,” and is using the pretext of boosting American security as a way to try to take control of “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

The Americans, Martinsen said, “only see what they can get out of Greenland and not what it actually is.”

To Greenlanders, she said, “it's home.”

“It has beautiful nature and lovely people. It’s just home to me. I think the Americans just see some kind of business trade.”

Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this report.

A journalist films in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)

An AP journalist films people sitting by the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)

A journalist conducts an interview in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)