After his 25 years at Bayern Munich, which featured 13 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues, came to an end this summer, Thomas Müller suggested that he could be ready to bring his legendary career to a close.
But as he was officially unveiled as a Vancouver Whitecaps player on Thursday, the 35-year-old insisted he still had plenty more to offer. And he intends to add more titles to his collection.
"I was always a competitive guy during my whole life and my love is to play soccer. And my body feels, even in my stage of my career, too good to retire," he told a news conference.
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"I played so many years at Bayern in Europe and I'm very proud of this time but for me it was time also a little bit for an adventure, but an adventure for me is only interesting when it is about having the chance to go for titles," he added.
"If you watch the Vancouver Whitecaps this season -- and also the development in the last years -- there is a chance, not only this year also next year."
Müller is expected to make his debut against the Houston Dynamo in front of a sold-out home crowd at BC Place on Sunday.
He joins a Whitecaps team riding high this season. It currently sits second in MLS' Western Conference and earlier this year reached the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup, beating Inter Miami and Lionel Messi in the semifinals.
"It's not about the winning times in the past, it's winning titles in the future. That's what motivates me," Muller, who also win the World Cup with Germany in 2014, said.
"Or maybe it's not about the titles, but about the competition. Competition with your team, against other teams, competition against yourself, your own competition against your teammates to earn your spot."
Müller, who joined Bayern's academy as a 10-year-old before going on to score 250 goals for the senior team, said he had been persuaded to continue his career in Vancouver by coach Jesper Sorensen and CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster.
"These two guys showed me their ideas, their plans and I felt quite comfortable from the beginning," Müller said.
His last game for Bayern was a quarterfinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain at the Club World Cup in Atlanta, after a months-long farewell from the club. Bayern announced in April it wouldn't be extending his contract. Müller said he understood "even if this did not reflect my personal wishes."
The following weeks saw emotional scenes with teammates, club officials and fans as Müller hit personal milestones -- passing his 500th Bundesliga game and 750th game in total for Bayern -- and wrapped up yet another German title.
Vancouver said last week Müller will join the Whitecaps for the remainder of the season in an open roster spot, with a Designated Player option for 2026.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.