Thomas Muller insists he is not competing for first-team minutes with James Rodriguez or Corentin Tolisso

Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller insists that while he is indeed under pressure to score more goals this upcoming season, he isn’t in competition with new arrivals James Rodriguez and Corentin Tolisso for his first-team spot.

James’ arrived on a two-year loan from Real Madrid this summer. The Columbian midfielder didn’t seem to reach his full potential at the Bernabéu, and hopes a move to Bayern under Carlo Ancelotti will re-energize his club career.

Bayern acquired Tolisso from Lyon for a reported Bundesliga-record transfer fee of €41.5 million. The French midfielder was excellent for Lyon last year, scoring 14 goals in 47 games in all competitions.

Despite the hype surrounding the arrival of the two midfielders, and even some speculation that they could challenge Muller’s standing in the first team, Muller told Omnisport via FourFourTwo that he isn’t worried about how the three can interact and compliment each other on the pitch:

"It's always something in between, I think both players are very good.”

"They are both good characters. We've spent the last week together so we can look out for each other and have fun.

"On the pitch, they are both very important and have good qualities. They show it in every training session. So it's more [that we will] play together than [be in] competition with each other.”

Muller had a bit of a down season by his standards, scoring only five goals in domestic competition and three in the Champions League. Although, his work rate and ability to set up teammates wasn’t impacted. He assisted on 12 goals in Bundesliga competition. This upcoming season Muller is flexible on what his role will be:

"It doesn't matter to me if I'm the goalscorer or the playmaker. I want to help the team but I think the expectations are very high. So I need to score goals so that people are satisfied.

"I needed a little time to know our new trainer and the new system but I think since January, in the second half of the season was very good.

"I'm looking forward very positively for the next season to do much better.

"Normally Bayern want to win everything we play. So it's not about titles in the future but it's all about being the best in every game and every training session and every competition. We want to win everything."