Thomas Muller leaving Bayern Munich a possibility, says Philipp Lahm
Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm admits Thomas Muller could leave the club, according to The Guardian. The 30-year-old shares a good friendship with Muller but stressed it’s the player’s decision to stay or not.
The 25-year-old striker is rumoured to be the subject of a big-money bid from Manchester United and with Louis van Gaal confirming that his club are on the lookout for a striker, Lahm admits that Muller could follow Bastian Schweinsteiger in making the switch to Old Trafford.
Lahm had expressed his helplessness when Schweinsteiger was about to complete his move to United. "We have to simply respect and accept his decision. He's looking for a new challenge, but for me it's an absolute pity he is going, I have to say," said Lahm, according to Sky Sports.
The Bayern skipper echoed a similar thought while talking about Muller.
“It’s not my decision,” Lahm said in Shanghai ahead of Bayern’s pre-season friendly against Inter Milan, a game they won 1-0. “Things can happen very quickly in football. I certainly can’t provide any guarantee for Thomas Müller (staying).”
Lahm, however, revealed that he has no intention of leaving the Allianz Arena any time soon.
“That’s not going to happen with me,” he said. “I’m pleased that I’ve been able to spend practically all my career at home. It’s great to be in the same club for so long.”
Lahm dismisses Rummenigge concerns and believes Bayern Munich will continue to dominate
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had suggested last week that all German clubs had to worry at the financial strength of the clubs in England.
"Looking at the transfer market you can see how active the English sides are at the moment. The Bundesliga needs to be careful not to be emptied of its talent by selling to England", Rummenigge said, according to Marca.
Lahm though is unfazed by those remarks and stated that Bayern have a squad good enough to continue challenging for the top honours.
“We’re still a top club,” he said, according to The Guardian. “We’ve reached at least the semi-finals of the Champions League in recent years and we have a top team who would be playing at the top in any league. We certainly don’t need to have any fear.”
Lahm has singled out the German Bundesliga as their prime target for the 2015/16 season, Bayern Munich’s official press release stated.
“Our justifiable ambition is to go as far as we can in all three competitions,” Philipp Lahm told a press conference at the hotel in Shanghai, “we have a record to break, winning the German championship four times in a row. That would definitely be special.”