It's official: I am leaving FC Bayern Munich and am now a Real Madrid player.
At Bayern Munich, I thank you for a wonderful time. Since I have met with 16 years of the decision to move to Bayern, I was proud of every single day to be able to be a player of this great club. On the side of many outstanding players like Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni and Franck Ribery I celebrated great successes. Many private and sporting memories come to my mind. In particular, the triple in 2013 remains for me and you safe forever in the memory.
I've also be working with exceptional coaches: With Ottmar Hitzfeld, with "Tiger" Hermann Gerland, with Louis van Gaal or with Jupp Heynckes, with whom I during my loan to Bayer Leverkusen already previously had a good time. It is the phase in Leverkusen was immensely important for my career and my time there I do not want to miss. A very special thanks goes so well at Rudi Voeller and Michael Reschke. Outstanding experience has brought under Pep Guardiola me the past season. Pep is a superior man, a very special coaches and outstanding among all large practice leaders with whom I've worked with. He has helped me tremendously and I am him, and sporting director Matthias Sammer, I already know during my time in the youth teams of the DFB and appreciate've learned very, very grateful for the confidence they have placed in me. Dear Pep Guardiola, dear Matthias Sammer, dear friends from the team of FC Bayern: I wish you much success in the years to come!
After I won with FC Bayern all the major titles in club football, I see now after winning the World Cup in Brazil the time has come to make new experiences and to take on a new challenge in attack.
That's why I'm going with great anticipation and tremendous humility to the task at Real Madrid. A club, who is also a myth with a great tradition and an active power plant in world football. A club with a glorious past and an exciting future. A team with great individual players and an impressive team spirit, as we saw last year at the profit of "la decima". I am looking forward to wear the white jersey of the "Royal" and the future of the club of legends and idols such as Alfredo di Stefano, which I sadly did not live to get to know, Emilio Butragueno, Zinedine Zidane, Raúl, or German models such as Günter Netzer, Paul Breitner and Uli Stielike common shape with the current team and coach Carlo Ancelotti and furthering the glory of Real Madrid.
My Fans in Germany will I meet safe with the national team on. I look forward to the reunion. The friends in Spain, which I hopefully meet at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, I say: