The Vancouver Whitecaps’ German sporting director, Axel Schuster, is “still processing” the completion of Thomas Muller’s move to the MLS club – and has explained why footballing luminaries such as the Germany legend, Lionel Messi and Son Heung-min have moved to the US.
“The last meters felt like forever,” said Schuster, providing the inside story of negotiations with the 35-year-old Bayern Munich record appearance maker.
“Not because anybody was creating problems, but because drafting and getting the right wording and language for everybody together is complicated.
“We haven’t discussed any numbers for more than two weeks. It was really about the right language for all parties.
“When it happened, my wife [contacted] me and I said ‘honestly, I’m not yet there where I understand it.’ Ask me next week, when I’m sitting on stage with him.”
The man. The myth. The legend.
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— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) August 7, 2025
How Vancouver signed Thomas Muller
With Cincinnati owning Discovery Rights to Muller – an MLS rule allowing a club the right to sign a player if they want to move to their country – Vancouver, who were put up for sale in the off-season and have one of the lower wage bills in the US, were initially a long shot to make Muller their marquee name.
Schuster helped, having met Muller and established a relationship with his agents, Ludwig Kogl and Christian Romberg, during his time in management roles with German clubs Mainz and Schalke.
“There was a lot of chatter about him coming to the MLS, and other clubs were involved at the time,” Schuster recalled of the mid-season move, via the Whitecaps.
“I follow several podcasts in Germany and, reading German newspapers at the time, I figured out that something was not working.
“I [made contact] and said ‘what’s going on, by the way? Is he not coming? Do you want to talk?’ At the time, I was curious and more open to helping with some insights.
“Of course, I was also a little bit optimistic, hoping a little bit that there might be a door open for us. From the first time we spoke, there was ‘why not Vancouver?’
“[There was] a point [when] they said ‘yeah, we understand that you are not interested or not up for such a deal.’ I said ‘please, never say that.’
“In my role – especially as a German – I would never say Thomas Muller would not be an option for us. I told them we would be super excited if there was a possibility but there are also issues with how we do things in our market. That was not an issue at all.
“From the first conversation with his agent, it was like ‘yeah, sure – he thinks Vancouver would be an amazing landing spot’.”
“Let’s do something special together.”
Müller is officially a ‘Cap! Rep your club with the Peak Jersey, available at the Whitecaps FC Store in Gastown (385 Water St). 🌊#VWFC x #TM13 pic.twitter.com/y9zudsAXvN
— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) August 6, 2025
Muller to Vancouver: ‘He wants to do this’
After 25 years at Bayern and with a 34th club trophy on the way in the form of the 2024/25 Bundesliga, Muller had announced he was leaving Die Roten in April.
Over a series of with Bayern, Muller was given in-depth insights into Vancouver’s style of play and tactical approach and found himself stimulated by manager Jesper Sorensen and Schuster, who describes the conversations as “straightforward”.
“The agent called me and said ‘he wants to do this’,” Schuster says of the response two hours after the last of those chats.
“There’s one other big problem with him: if you go and try to meet him or he travels, everyone knows, in Germany, at least.
“You cannot do something secretly where you go there and meet, so virtually was good enough.
“[The agent] said ‘look, we have to speak about a few things.’ I said ‘I’m not prepared for that’. I was still in the mood of first convincing him about our wonderful project, city and everything.
“Those were easy conversations. I don’t want to say in any way that the contract negotiations have been complicated because they had full respect for what we are.”
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— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) August 6, 2025
Thomas Muller: Vancouver contract ‘respect’
Muller could have followed many of his peers by picking financially mightier suitors. “They know what we offered is huge for us and maybe not as big for other clubs, so they felt very respected,” pointed out Schuster.
“But you can imagine that writing those contracts and having a player with such valuable image rights takes some time.
“It takes lawyers and legal counsel from three countries. It took longer than I hoped at that point, but we got it done.
“It’s the first time he has really changed his country, club and city. Everything in his life and business is set up in Germany.
“To do this correctly and find the right set-up in a North American country across two countries needed expert advice and took time.”
“That hasn’t delayed his arrival because, after the Club World Cup, he needed time off.”
New threads. 🧵🪡 #TM13 pic.twitter.com/QNd7Wv1xfy
— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) August 6, 2025
Thomas Muller Whitecaps fee
The MLS negotiated image rights with Muller and helped the Whitecaps strike a deal to give $200,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM), $100,000 in 2026 GAM and a conditional $100,000 in 2026 GAM to Cincinnati.
Schuster said reports that Muller will earn $7.5m a year are “not even close”, while the climate in Vancouver, which is closer to Munich than the intense heat Muller experienced in the US during the Club World Cup, was an enticing factor.
Muller was encouraged by Bayern and Canada wideman Alphonso Davies, who came through the ranks at Vancouver, and now has a shot at glory with Vancouver, who are a point from the top of the Western Conference in their first season under former Brondby and Denmark Under-21 boss Sorensen.
“We have never said we want to go and win the title but we have always said we want to compete for everything along the road,” said Schuster, discussing what Muller’s arrival showed about their ambitions.
“Even in the middle of the season, we do the next things to support the staff, the coach, the team, the club to go for it. That sends a message to our team that we have confidence and belief.”
Lionel Messi, Son Heung-min, Muller ‘impact’
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, of Inter Miami, was the MLS MVP last year and has vastly expanded the profile of the league, while Tottenham legend and South Korea icon Son Heung-min completed an emotional move from Spurs to LAFC this week.
“There was a different time, many years ago, when players thought ‘where is the best last contract I can get?’” acknowledged Schuster.
“We’ve completely gone away from that. Players are picking this league as a choice, to try out something different.”
Messi has top-scored for his side and won the Supporters’ Shield last season but Miami have been far from dominant despite his presence, making the Argentina captain’s observations about the competitiveness of the MLS ring true.
Muller’s haul of 13 German titles in 17 years as a senior Bayern player could make underdog status appeal to the forward.
“Players are curious to play in a league that is balanced,” suggested Schuster. “That is totally different from a competition standpoint.
“You’re not going to the best team in the country, where you automatically win 80% of the games. You’re joining a league where you, as a player, need to make a difference to really win.
“Every new player is also looking at those who came recently to see what sort of impact that would make. Messi obviously stands out here.
“We speak so often about his profile and what he has won, but I would also like to speak about his numbers and how much of a difference he has made for Miami.
“We have played them twice and his quality alone has scared us enough to be very worried about how to win against them.
“That’s something we expect from a player like Thomas, who has won as much as Messi, and we will probably see from some other players, like Son. In tight games, when it really matters, those players make the difference.”
Why has Thomas Muller joined the MLS?
Former in 2009, Vancouver’s squad includes USMNT striker Brian White, who has 11 goals in the 2025 MLS, and one of his international teammates, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter.
The Whitecaps reached the last Concacaf Champions Cup final and had the third-highest expected goals tally in the MLS at the time of Muller’s arrival.
“This is one step more to make sure that everyone understands and sees that we want to go further from here,” outlined Schuster.
“This should not be the one-hit wonder year. We want to be an organization that develops players and talent.
“To do that, you need leadership, experience, anchor players and players who can make players better on the pitch.
“Other than [Muller’s] individual skills, great threat creation, finishing and all the other skills he has, he also is very good at making the players next to him better and helping them find the right spaces, positions and to shine.
“He could easily have finished his career now and it would have been a wonderful career. But the one thing that triggers him is he is a competitor.
“He played more than 40 games last year and won titles. He wants to continue that. He’s not at the point where he wants to lie back and do something else.”
Off the pitch, Vancouver are exploring a new stadium in order to guarantee the club stays in the city and increased attendance by more than 33% at their current BC Place Stadium last season, up from an average of 14,095 per match to almost 19,000 (via Bob Mackin).
“It’s a message to our market that it’s a team to get behind this team, to show up, to buy tickets,” said Schuster, whose club kept Messi from scoring as they beat Miami in the Champions Cup semi-finals in April, winning 2-0 in front of a near-capacity 54,000 fans at home and 3-1 away.
“Against Miami, we were rocking the stadium and dominating one of the best teams in the MLS. It’s a message to our market: ‘come on, buy tickets’.”
Thomas Muller stats
One of the greatest players ever, Muller has provided 295 goals and 279 assists in 887 career appearances.
The Golden Boot winner at the 2010 World Cup, Muller won the competition in 2014 and is a two-time Champions League winner.
Those European triumphs came with Bayern in 2012/13 and 2019/20, with Muller named in the Champions League squad of the season after the latter campaign.
