Benched Mueller admits frustrations amid Bayern exit reports

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Thomas Mueller confirmed Wednesday that he is unhappy being left on the bench at Bayern Munich amid reports he wants to leave in the January transfer window.

Mueller, who turned 30 last month, hasn’t started Bayern’s last five games, “a trend that doesn’t make me happy,” he told magazine Kicker.

“I’ve just turned 30, I’m in great shape and I’m hungry for success, both with the club and personally.

“I am firmly convinced that with my qualities, I can continue to help the team.

“If the coaching team only sees me as a substitute in the future, I have to think things over. I’m just too ambitious for that.”

Bayern head coach Niko Kovac has prefered Philippe Coutinho as an attacking midfielder behind Robert Lewandowski, presenting Mueller with few chances so far this season.

Mueller played just the last 30 minutes of Bayern’s shock 2-1 defeat at home to Hoffenheim on Saturday which led to them losing top spot in the German league table.

According to Germany’s top-selling daily Bild, Mueller is considering leaving the club he joined as a schoolboy in 2000.

Over the last decade, he has scored 186 goals, setting up 171 more, in nearly 500 games for Bayern, but the last six months have not been kind.

In March, he was told, along with fellow 2014 World Cup winners Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels, that his Germany career was over by head coach Joachim Loew.

This season he has played an average of 45 minutes in each of Bayern’s ten games in all competitions, managing one goal and four assists.

Born and bred in Bavaria, Mueller has won the Bundesliga title eight times, lifted the German Cup five times and the Champions League trophy in 2013.

Famously mistaken as a ball-boy by Diego Maradona following his Germany debut in 2010, Mueller was reportedly the target of a 100 million euros ($109 million) bid by Manchester United in 2015.