As the season draws closer to its end, Liverpool fans are still yet to know whether three of their best players will leave the club this summer.

But as the contract sagas of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold rumble ever on, clarity is arriving over other big, out-of-contract stars across Europe.

On Friday, Kevin De Bruyne announced his exit from Manchester City after 10 years with the reigning Premier League champions.

And Saturday brought the turn of Thomas Muller, who will bring his time at Bayern Munich to a close after 16 full seasons with the first-team.

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Muller and De Bruyne’s exits could be instructive to Liverpool fans as they wait to see whether Van Dijk and Salah in particular follow suit in the coming weeks.

But as Muller begins to say his farewells at Sabener Strasse, it’s worth looking back at when the Germany legend almost ended up joining Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.

Photo by A.

Hassenstein/FC Bayern via Getty Images

Back in summer of 2017, Muller was still no spring chicken.

But having just won another Bundesliga title with Bayern, it seemed that the 28-year-old could finally be on his way out.

Liverpool had taken the first step on their evolution under Klopp having qualified for the Champions League in their first full season with the German at the helm.

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That year’s transfer market would prove to be transformational at Anfield, with the likes of Gini Wijnaldum, Joel Matip and – most notably – Sadio Mane arriving.

But as Klopp looked to get Mane the world-class help he needed in attack, the former Liverpool manager reportedly took a look at Muller’s situation at Bayern.

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According to a BILD report from January 2019, Liverpool – ‘on behalf of Jurgen Klopp’ – inquired about whether Muller would be available for a move in 2017.

It is not reported how Bayern responded, but Muller himself is claimed to have turned down ‘numerous offers’ to leave Munich.

Ultimately, the forward did not move to Liverpool and would go on to spend six-and-a-half more years with Bayern.

It will be fascinating to see where Muller goes this summer.

The suggestion appears to be that the 35-year-old is not ready to retire just yet.

Given his veteran status, those offers from the likes of Liverpool are very unlikely to arrive again.

But perhaps that won’t stop Muller from getting on the phone and seeing if his services are required at Anfield.

As he told ESPN UK back in July 2022, the Reds would be his choice of club if he had to pick a team to follow in the Premier League.

“I love to watch City, but when I want to be a supporter maybe I’d want to be in the stands of Liverpool, at Anfield road!” Muller smiled.

Although his best days are clearly behind him, if the Reds wanted to go down this route and bring the legendary forward to Anfield this summer, we’d still be all for it!


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