Of Franck Ribéry's 425 appearances for Bayern Munich, 295 of those came alongside Thomas Müller. Ribéry left Bayern in 2019 to go on to play for Fiorentina and then Salernitana in Serie A. Müller remained at Bayern but is set to depart the club after the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.
Müller has been linked with MLS clubs including FC Cincinnati, San Diego FC and Los Angeles FC. The German has already turned down Cincinnati, but LAFC could still be an option for the player due to the club's partnership with Bayern. There was also talk that Müller could make the same move that Ribéry did to Fiorentina, but the forward was not interested in the move to Italy.
Speaking via a Zoom call that has been translated from German, Ribéry opened up on his appreciation of Müller. "Thomas Müller is a legend for Bayern Munich and Germany. We played together for a long time. He is a great player and a great person. It was always a great experience to team up with him, and I respect him a lot."
Despite turning down Cincinnati, Müller and Bayern's first game of the Club World Cup this summer will be in the MLS clubs' TQL Stadium. The German side will play Auckland City there before moving to Miami to face Boca Juniors. Vincent Kompany's team's final game of their group will be against Benfica in Charlotte.
When asked what he thought of Bayern's group, Ribéry replied, "I think it is a difficult group. You might think that Bayern is the favorite, but it is like in the Champions League, every match is difficult. If you think the match will be easy, then you will have more and more problems. There are lots of good teams, but I still hope that Bayern will win the title."
One of Bayern's opponents at the Club World Cup this summer excites him more than the others: Boca Juniors. "I am a big fan of Boca Juniors. Everybody knows them, and River Plate is their major opponent. I hope I will be able to travel to Argentina because I love the atmosphere there.
"Boca have great players and I love their mentality. They have a great passion for football. Many of them learn from their dads or their grandparents. I've never been there before, but I hope to make it someday. Maybe you can organise something for me so I can travel there, maybe you can get me a ticket!"
Ribéry enjoyed playing in the United States on preseason tours with Bayern. "We travelled to Miami and New York. It was always a great experience, great stadiums with lots of fans. There was always a great atmosphere. Football plays an important role in the United States. It is becoming more and more important."
The Frenchman expects his former club to be very well supported at the Club World Cup. "Bayern is one of the best clubs in the world. There are lots of large clubs in the world, but Bayern has always played a very special role. The same applies to its fans, so it is going to be a great and enthusiastic atmosphere, which will be great for the players."
Ribéry won the Club World Cup back in 2013 in Morocco with Bayern. The winger scored in a 3-0 win over Guangzhou in the semi-finals. The Bundesliga side then beat the home side Raja Casablanca 2-0 in the final. Ribéry won the Golden Ball and the Most Valuable Player of the Final awards for that tournament.
Bayern have just won the Bundesliga, whilst they also made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the round of 16 of the DFB-Pokal this season. Ribéry is concerned about fixture congestion for the players ahead of the Club World Cup. "When you play for a large club in the world, you are used to playing in different championships and cups. It is a lot of pressure for the players.
"Last week, Bayern had less than 10 days to recover from their matches. Sometimes you end up playing 50 or 60 matches a year, and being capped for your national team also, which is quite a challenge for the players. The players are humans in the end, we are not robots."