Thomas Muller answers questions from 30 kids from the Bayern Munich “Kids Club”

Thomas Müller is no stranger to press conferences, but Thursday’s press conference was a little bit different for the raumdeuter. He was asked questions by a panel of thirty kids from Bayern’s Kid’s Club. Each kid present at the conference was allowed to ask Müller a question. He was asked about his future plans both on and off the pitch and who his role model was as a kid, among other topics (SportBild).

At 30 years of age, Müller said he’s still got a few good years of playing left in him, and that he’s also keeping quite busy off the pitch as well:

I’m thirty now. You can play until about 35 or so. I’m definitely not getting bored. I already have lots of projects on the side. Whether it’s my charity or I have already put out two children’s books. I’m not running out of work.

Growing up as a native Bavarian, Müller was always a Bayern Munich fan as a young kid. During his childhood, he said that Giovane Elber was one of his biggest idols:

Of course I was a Bayern fan. (...) I was always a fan of Giovane Elber. He always had fun playing soccer, sometimes worked magic, sometimes scored a bicycle kick. Once after a goal, he rolled himself up in a Bayern carpet. I really liked that, so he was my favorite player at the time.

Having played for Bayern for over 12 years as well as the German National Team, Müller has worked under many different managers. Of all of the managers he’s worked with, though, Müller said he’s most enjoyed his time working with Hermann Gerland the most:

Over the years, I had the most fun and joy with Hermann Gerland, because he was still a very hard-nosed youth coach at the beginning of my playing career, but in the last ten years we have traded many a barb with each other and had fun on the pitch and celebrated many successes.

Photo by A. Hassenstein/FC Bayern via Getty Images

Müller was also asked about his best friend on the team, to which he replied with several players he’s gotten close with over the years with both Bayern and Die Mannshcaft. It should come as no surprise that the majority of the players he named have been with both Bayern and Germany for quite some time:

I have fun with many (players), keep in touch regularly with many of them. I’ve occasionally met with Niklas Süle privately, because we both love to play golf. I’ve known Manuel Neuer for a very long time; we have a good connection. Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger were also really good buddies on the team, but they’ve already retired. Those are the closest friends, I’d say. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone.

You can watch the press conference yourself here: