In most cases in football, players' contracts will end at the end of June. However, most will mostly sign an extension to keep them at that specific club. However, some might be offered an extension but choose to refuse and ultimately leave the club after many years of association. In a rare occasion, one might retire. This come to fruition for three players: Man City's Kevin De Bruyne; Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Roma's Mats Hummels.
The club's captain said, "these will be my final months as a Manchester City player" in a post on social media. De Bruyne, whose deal expires in the summer, signed for City in 2015 from German Club, Wolfsburg, for a fee of £54.5m, scoring 106 goals in 413 matches in a trophy-laden decade at the club.
The 33-year-old will go down as one of the Premier League's greatest players after winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five Carabao Cups and the Champions League in an unprecedented period of success for City.
De Bruyne was also part of Pep Guardiola's treble-winning team in 2022/23. Guardiola described it as a sad day to see De Bruyne's exit confirmed and said he, "is one of the greatest" this country has ever seen.
De Bruyne thanked the City fans in his departure announcement but is yet to provide any clarity on what the future holds for him.
The City midfielder's contract will expire at the end of June which is midway through this summer's Club World Cup. It's unclear at this stage if that will extend his deal for a short period to have his farewell in the U.S.A..
"Nothing about this is easy to write, but as football players, we all know this day eventually comes," De Bruyne's farewell post went on to read. "That day is here - and you deserve to hear it from me first."
“Football led me to all of you – and to this city. Chasing this dream, not knowing this period would change my life. This city. This club. These people… gave me EVERYTHING. I had no choice but to give EVERYTHING back! And guess what – we won EVERYTHING."
"Whether we like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye. Suri, Rome, Mason, Michele, and I are all grateful for what this place has meant to our family. "Manchester" will forever be on our kids’ passports – and more importantly, in each of our hearts."
"This will always be our HOME."
"We cannot thank the city, club, staff, teammates, friends, and family enough for this 10-year ride. Every story comes to an end, but this has definitely been the best chapter.Let’s enjoy these last moments together!"
A quick glance at the Premier League table since De Bruyne joined City from Wolfsburg highlights how dominant City have been. Only Liverpool can reasonably claim to have pushed the Citizens in the Premier League, with Arsenal a massive 129 points back.
Defending is difficult enough at the best of times. However, since De Bruyne joined Manchester City in 2015, it has been almost impossible for Premier League defenders.
When lining up opposite the Belgian playmaker, opponents simply haven't known where it’s safe to stand because De Bruyne can find a pass to open them up from seemingly any angle and any distance.
You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from his opponents on Friday, though, when De Bruyne announced that this will be his final season at Man City.
It wasn’t entirely a surprise given the 33-year-old has played just 1 102 minutes in the Premier League this season, having only played fewer in 2018/19 (974 minutes) due to various injury issues.
De Bruyne's legacy will never be forgotten and like former Chelsea team-mate, Mohamed Salah, he recovered from an underwhelming spell at Stamford Bridge to return to the Premier League and take it by storm.
After leaving Chelsea for Wolfsburg, De Bruyne thrived in Germany. He recorded the most assists in Europe's top five leagues in the 2014/15 season (20) and led the Bundesliga for open-play chances created (74).
That saw City part with a reported £55m to sign the Belgian and it may have been the best money the club has ever spent.
De Bruyne is second behind only Ryan Giggs (162) in the all-time Premier League assists charts (118), with 117 of those coming for City (one for Chelsea).
Despite that gap to Giggs, De Bruyne has the best minutes-per-assist ratio in the competition’s history (177) of players to make 50+ appearances, comfortably ahead of Dennis Bergkamp in second (236 minutes per assist).
Giggs averaged an assist every 287 minutes. He also has the joint record for most assists in a Premier League season, recording a whopping 20 in the 2019/20 campaign. Only Thierry Henry (2002/03) has ever managed the same number of assists in a season.
Since he joined Man City in August 2015, De Bruyne has recorded at least 32 more assists in the Premier League than anyone else (117), created at least 294 more chances than any other player (827) and created at least 214 more open-play chances than anyone (593).
He has done so while being at the centre of Pep Guardiola’s sky-blue machine, racking up records, creating many of the goals that have seen City dominate much of the last decade in England and scoring a few, too.
In fact, in that time, no player has assisted more goals or created more chances than him across Europe’s top five leagues. Similarly, since Opta records began in 2003/04, only Cesc Fabregas (846) has created more chances than De Bruyne’s 830 overall in the Premier League (three for Chelsea).
He could move top of that list before his time at City is out.
De Bruyne also has the fourth-most goal involvements in the competition since arriving at City (187), behind only Salah (267), Harry Kane (231) and Son Heung-min (198), which is quite impressive when you consider he’s only reached double figures for goals in two of his 10 league campaigns at City.
De Bruyne has not taken it easy on any opponent either, having either scored or assisted against 30 of the 33 Premier League clubs he's faced while at City.
The team to have suffered the most by his hand (or feet) are Southampton, against whom he has 14 goal involvements (4 goals, 10 assists) in 13 Premier League appearances.
He has created a mammoth 1 140 chances for team-mates and taken 941 shots at goal himself.
Breaking those down into competitions, he has 70 Premier League goals to go with his 117 assists for City in 277 appearances; 16 Champions League goals and 25 assists in 72 matches; 10 goals and 18 assists in 32 FA Cup appearances; 10 goals and 7 assists in 26 EFL Cup matches and an assist in both a FA Community Shield and a Champions League qualifier.
His total of 277 Premier League appearances is the second-most in the competition for City, behind only David Silva (309), though De Bruyne is 24 Premier League assists ahead of the Spaniard (93) for the club.
Only Sergio Aguero (184), Raheem Sterling (91) and Erling Haaland (84) have scored more Premier League goals for City than De Bruyne’s 70.
He also has 12 goal involvements in the competition against Arsenal (8G/4A) and Crystal Palace (4G/8A), and 11 against Newcastle United (3G/8A) and Liverpool (4G 7A).
While his partnership with Haaland will be one abiding memory of his time in Manchester, the man he provided the most assists for in a City shirt was Aguero (19), though he can of course still add to the 13 he has put on for Haaland if the Norwegian recovers from injury before De Bruyne’s exit.
With eight matches to go in the league and an FA Cup semi-final and potential final to look forward to, it would be nice to see more appearances for a bona fide City legend before the end of his final campaign, potentially starting with Sunday's derby clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Guardiola reflected on it being, "a sad day but a happy day for the fact that I had the pleasure personally to live this time with him," following the player’s announcement.
Erling Haaland took it to Xto post a photo of them together and wrote: "There’s only one Kevin," alongside a crown emoji.
In the middle of a picture collage on Instagram, fellow Man City player, Jack Grealish, wrote: "One of the reasons I joined City was to play alongside you brother! The best I've ever had the pleasure of playing with for sure! Legend!"
The Premier League will miss De Bruyne, even if opposition defences won't.
Meanwhile, in Germany, Thomas Muller will leave Bayern Munich after 25 years at the Bundesliga giants when his contract expires this summer.
The 35-year-old midfielder joined Bayern's ranks in 2000 and made his professional debut for Bayern on 15 August 2008 in a 2-2 draw against Hamburger SV. Since then, he’s won: 12 Bundesliga titles; the DFB Cup six times; the Champions League twice; the Club World Cup twice; the European Super Cup twice and the German Supercup eight times.
In September, the attacker overtook Munich goalkeeping icon, Sepp Maier, as the Reds' record appearance maker and is currently on 743 competitive appearances, in which he's registered 247 goals and 273 assists. He scored 45 goals in 131 games for the German national team from 2010 to 2024, winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
He won the Golden Boot as the joint top goalscorer at his debut World Cup in 2010 and also took part in the tournaments in 2018 and 2022 as well as the European Championships in 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2024.
Muller has largely played a bit-part role for Bayern since signing his new deal but despite suggesting he would have liked to stay, the club say the two parties came to a "mutual solution" that will see him end his quarter-of-a-century spell in Bavaria.
In a letter to Bayern fans on social media, Muller said: "Even after all these years, regardless of the minutes I play, I still really enjoy being on the pitch with the lads and fighting for titles together for our team. I could have easily imagined taking on this role next year as well."
"However, the club consciously decided not to negotiate a new contract with me for next season. Even if this wasn't in line with my personal wishes, it's important that the club follows its convictions. I respect this step, which the board and supervisory board certainly didn't take lightly."
Bayern CEO, Jan-Christian Dreesen, said in a club statement: "The most important thing is that we've found a mutual solution. Thomas Müller is one of the greatest player personalities this club has produced, and therefore it was important to us to find a fair and amicable agreement.
"Now we want to work together to ensure that this incredible career is crowned with hopefully three more trophies. There are few players that fans still rave about decades after their career. Thomas Müller will be one of them."
Muller also thanked fans for their help on an, "incredible journey" rallying for their support to reclaim the Bundesliga title at the end of this season.
The German record champions will honour Müller’s magnificent career with, among other things, his own testimonial. It’s also been agreed that the two-time treble winner and world champion will play his final games for Bayern at the FIFA Club World Cup, which takes place in the U.S.A. from 15 June to 13 July.
His future was the subject of speculation for several months but until now, both the club and the player had stayed silent. While there is no indication that Müller will retire from football any time soon, Bayern have hinted they would like him to get involved with the club following the end of his playing days.
Thomas Müller’s full statement is as follows:
Hello Bayern fans,
After a lot of speculation about me recently, I would like to use this letter to provide you with some clarity. Even after all these years, regardless of the minutes I play, I still have a lot of fun being on the pitch with the boys and fighting for titles together for our colors. I could well have imagined myself in this role next season as well.However, the club has consciously decided not to negotiate a new contract with me for next season. Even if this did not correspond to my personal wishes, it is important that the club follows its convictions. I respect this step, which the board and supervisory board certainly did not take lightly.
I understandably didn’t like the back and forth in public over the past weeks and months. However, I see it here as I do with my football game: It wasn’t always characterized by perfection either, but rather a positive, forward-thinking approach to the next action. After a bad pass, it’s important to win the ball back with team spirit. We’ve managed that in this matter over the past few days in trusting discussions.I feel the appreciation from everyone involved for my long time at FC Bayern and feel deep joy at having played for my beloved club for 25 incredibly intensive years. Through so many great moments together, I will be forever connected to FC Bayern and to you
Now our full focus is on our sporting goals for the season. It would be a dream for me to bring the championship trophy back home and reach the long-awaited final at home at the end of May. I will give everything for that! Thank you for everything that has been and for everything that is still to come.
Always forward, FC Bayern!
While speaking to the club's website, he further added:
"It’s clear that today is anything but a day like any other for me. My 25 years as a player for FC Bayern will come to an end this summer. It has been an incredible journey, marked by unique experiences, great encounters, and unforgettable triumphs. I feel enormous gratitude and joy to have been able to pursue this career at my beloved club. The very special connection to the club and our fantastic fans will always remain. What I wish for as I leave should be clear: titles that we can celebrate together and moments that we will all remember fondly for a long time to come. We will give our all in the coming weeks to bring the league title back to Munich and reach our long-awaited Champions League final at home. Let’s do this together!"
Bayern are nine points clear of defending champions, Bayer Leverkusen, at the top of the league with head coach Vincent Kompany edging the club closer to a 34th domestic title.
Mats Hummels has announced his retirement from the game. The defender, currently at Italian side, Roma, announced on Instagram that this campaign will be his last, pulling the curtain down on a stellar career. He wrote that he is, "struggling with emotions" at the decision to call time on his 19-year stint at the highest level.
Hummels came through the Bayern Munich academy and returned to the club from 2016-19 but will be best remembered for his legendary spells at Borussia Dortmund, where he won two Bundesliga titles and reached the final of the 2013 Champions League. He and Dortmund were back in the final in May 2024, losing to Real Madrid, 2-0.
In his Instagram post, Hummels said: "I'm struggling with emotions right now. Now comes the moment no footballer can avoid. After more than 18 years with so many things that football has given me, I'm ending my career this summer."
Bergisch Gladbach-born Hummels came through Bayern Munich's youth ranks and made his first-team debut for the Bavarian club aged 18 in May 2007. He joined Borussia Dortmund January 2008, initially on loan, and went on to become a key part of the team that twice won the Bundesliga under Jurgen Klopp.
Hummels moved back to Bayern in 2016, where he won three more German league titles, then returned to Dortmund for a second spell three years later.
One of the pinnacles of his career came in 2014 when he played a crucial role in Germany’s World Cup-winning campaign. Alongside defensive partner Jérôme Boateng, Hummels played every minute of the final, helping his team secure a 1-0 victory over Argentina at the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil.
However, despite high hopes, he never achieved his dream of winning the UEFA Champions League. His transfer back to Bayern was met with disappointment by some Dortmund supporters, particularly as it coincided with the club’s European ambitions.
In 2019, Mats Hummels rejoined Dortmund, just a year before Bayern claimed the Champions League title in 2020. He twice featured in Champions League finals with Dortmund—in 2013 and again in 2024—both times finishing as a runner-up and both occasions taking place at Wembley Stadium.
Throughout his career, Mats Hummels earned 78 caps for Germany. At the club level, he made 508 appearances for Dortmund and a further 118 for Bayern Munich. He joined Roma in 2024 and is set to end his playing career after one season in Italy’s Serie A.
Paying tribute to the departing defender, Germany national team manager, Julian Nagelsmann, described Hummels as, "a benchmark at the international level and a role model for a generation of defenders."
Both clubs will be losing crucial players. It will be difficult to replace them. However, knowing the two clubs, they'll be able to locate suitable candidates sooner rather than later. Due to the lack of playing minutes, I'm guessing they've already found them.
As for Hummels, he's earned the praise and respect he's gotten. He's achieved a lot. It's a shame he never won the Champions League. I'm sure he's future will be bright in his future endeavours outside the pitch.
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