Manchester United’s transfer window is once again the talk of the town, with fans closely monitoring every rumour and speculation that emerges as INEOS begins reshaping the club’s identity both on and off the pitch.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has spoken openly about raising standards and avoiding the scattergun recruitment of past regimes, which often saw United linked with a laundry list of stars they never truly pursued.
Gone are the days of empty rumours surrounding top talents, who were supposedly Manchester-bound every summer for nearly a decade.
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These days, United are more deliberate, with genuine links to names that fit the system Ruben Amorim is expected to build heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
However, some former targets still resurface from time to time, and one name who’s made that list repeatedly over the years is German veteran Thomas Muller.
Now 35, Thomas Muller has finally addressed the long-standing speculation in an interview with CBS, offering a response that was both honest and refreshingly humorous.
“Many times (they have) or do you mean now?” Muller asked, before continuing: “Now? No, no, no. I’m not the right guy for them and they are not the right club for me.
“They want to have fun and I want to have fun so that’s not a match.”
His words put to bed any lingering thoughts of a sensational late-career move to Old Trafford, not that it was ever on INEOS’s radar in the first place.
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But back in the early 2010s, things were very different, and Muller was a top priority under Louis van Gaal, who managed him at Bayern Munich between 2009 and 2011.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the Dutchman revealed: “I tried to bring Muller to Manchester both in the 2014/2015 season and in the 2015/2016 season.
“In 2015 it would have been possible if his wife had been a little more open to a transfer abroad.
“At least that was the reason Thomas gave my assistant Marcel Bout, who had had all the conversations with him, why the transfer had been rejected.”
United were reportedly ready to fork out upwards of £80 million for Muller at the time — a sum that would have broken records — but fate, and family, intervened.
While the German would go on to enjoy continued success at Bayern, United dodged what may have been a risky investment in hindsight, as Muller’s style may not have suited Premier League football.
Muller recently commented on his favourite ever shirt swap.
Mulled explained, “Wayne Rooney after the 2010 World Cup round of 16 against England.”
It’s yet another “what could’ve been” story in United’s rich transfer history — this time with a comedic twist from the player himself.
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