Nicolai Müller (born 25 September 1987) is a former German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who currently coaches

Bulls FC Academy Bulls FC Academy is an semi-professional association football, soccer club based in the Sydney suburb of Northbridge, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1952 as Northbridge Football Club, Bulls FC Academy was formed in 2023 following a merg ...

in the NSW NPL League One.

Club career

Early career

Müller began his career with TSV Wernfeld aged 11. In 1998, he joined

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

who had just won the 2. Bundesliga. He played for ''Die Adler'' until 2003, when he joined

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following r ...

Greuther Fürth

In 2006, Müller moved up to Greuther Fürth II in the

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

. He would play for Fürth's reserves for the next three years until midway through the 2008–09 season, when he was loaned out to

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

side

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a Football in Germany, German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. It is Ger ...

, who he helped to an eighth-place finish in the first ever 3. Liga campaign. For the next season, Müller returned to Greuther Fürth. He finally broke into the first team with the Cloverleaves in the 2009–10 season and continued to play for the first team in 2010–11. This would be his last year with Fürth, though they finished fourth, as at the end of the season Müller joined

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

Mainz 05

Müller signed a contract lasting until 2015 with the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club. His debut came against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

in August as a substitute for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the last minute. His first start came three games later against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

and he scored his first Bundesliga goal.

Hamburger SV

On 6 August 2014, Müller joined

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

signing a four-year contract. His debut for HSV came on the third matchday against Hannover 96 in the 2–0 loss at the

HDI-Arena Niedersachsenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, which is home to football club Hannover 96. The original 86,000-capacity stadium was completed in 1954 and has since been rebuilt several times for various major ...

. After the game, Hamburg coach

Mirko Slomka Mirko Slomka (; born 12 September 1967) is a German Association football, football manager who last managed Hannover 96. Managerial career Hannover 96 From 1989 to 1999, Slomka was the manager of Hannover 96's U19 squad. Slomka coached several ...

left the club and Josef Zinnbauer took charge for the next match against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, in which Müller started and received his first booking for a 59th-minute foul on

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

. Müller scored Hamburg's first goal of the 2014–15 season when he equalised against

on 28 September 2014. HSV eventually lost the game to a Lucas Piazon free-kick in the last minute. HSV avoided relegation through the relegation play off for the second successive season in Müller's debut year, as he came on as a substitute and scored a 115th-minute winner during the

relegation play-off Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

game that took place at the end of the Bundesliga season, against

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

. Müller's goal ensured that HSV would stay in the Bundesliga for the next year, keeping their unique status as the only team to have played in the Bundesliga for every year since its formation, as they won 3–2 on aggregate. On 20 August 2017, the first matchday of the

2017–18 Bundesliga The 2017–18 Bundesliga was the 55th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 August 2017 and concluded on 12 May 2018. The fixtures were announced on 29 June 2017. Following an offline test phase in the ...

season, Müller got injured while celebrating scoring a goal against

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

. Medical examination confirmed that the striker had ruptured the ACL in his right knee and would be out for approximately seven months. He returned to the pitch on matchday 33, in a 3–0 defeat away to

Eintracht Frankfurt

After the 2017–18 season Hamburger SV got relegated from the Bundesliga and Müller joined Eintracht Frankfurt on a free transfer signing a two-year contract until summer 2020. On 30 December 2018, it was announced that Müller would be loaned out to

for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.

Western Sydney Wanderers

In October 2019, Müller joined Australian club

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

as an injury replacement for

Radosław Majewski Radosław Majewski (; born 15 December 1986) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for I liga club Znicz Pruszków. He also played for the Poland national team. Club career Early career Majewski was born in P ...

Central Coast Mariners

On 26 July 2021, Müller signed with Australian club

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

on a one-year deal. After his spell at the team in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

he retired from pro football after 240 top-flight matches in Germany and Australia.

International career

On 29 May 2013, Müller made his debut for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in a friendly match against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, entering as a last-minute substitute for

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , 4 June 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. He is kno ...

. He won his second and last cap in this same US tour of the DFB team.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Nicolai 1987 births Living people German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Germany men's international footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players A-League Men players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players SV Sandhausen players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players Hamburger SV players Eintracht Frankfurt players Hannover 96 players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia People from Lohr am Main Central Coast Mariners FC non-playing staff 21st-century German sportsmen