Thomas Müller not ready to retire as he signs extension with Vancouver Whitecaps

The Story

Vancouver Whitecaps announced Tuesday that Thomas Müller has signed a contract extension through Major League Soccer’s 2027 “sprint season.” The sprint season is scheduled for February to May 2027, before the league shifts to an international summer-to-spring calendar in July 2027.

In a video shared by the club, the 37-year-old German said he is still enjoying playing. “So far it’s been an incredible journey. It’s really fun to be with this team, with these people and with the club,” Müller said. “And my body is still doing fine… It’s fun to be out on the pitch week after week. Every match day is a good day for me. And we want to reach our goals.”

Whitecaps general manager and sporting director Axel Schuster said Müller assessed whether his body could handle another season. Schuster said Müller is “smart enough to say: ‘I don’t want to be out there one day and have people say: ‘You should have stopped.’’” He added that Müller could retire at the end of any season and does not want to play past that point.

Müller joined Vancouver in August 2025 after 17 seasons with Bayern Munich, where he scored 250 goals across all competitions. Since arriving in MLS, the midfielder has 16 goals and 11 assists in 29 regular-season matches, and he has played 45 matches in all competitions for the club with 19 goals and 12 assists.

Before joining the Whitecaps, Müller helped Bayern win 13 league titles and 33 major trophies in total. He also won the 2014 World Cup with Germany, scoring five goals in the tournament, and won the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot in South Africa with five goals and three assists.

The extension comes after Vancouver won last season’s Western Conference title and reached its first MLS Cup final, which it lost 3-1 to Inter Miami, led by Lionel Messi.

Vancouver is also positioned near the top of the league standings this season and currently sits first in the Western Conference with a 15-6-5 record.