“The film was world class,” he said in an interview the next day. “I didn’t know they were doing it, but it was the top of the top. It has to go to Hollywood. I haven’t told Philipp about it yet. I want to show him instead. I told the guys there to get me a disc or a USB of it. He needs to see it.” He laughed again, thinking of Lahm’s reaction.

Müller, clearly, enjoyed his day out. He had spent three hours in Waging, answering questions, playing games, posing for pictures, handing out autographs. He had no entourage with him, just his brother, a Bayern communications staff member and a discreet security guard, but he would have happily gone on his own.

“I don’t need it, really,” Müller said of the company. “I can handle it myself.”

Watching him in Waging, one could see no trace of resentment at his being forced to give up a precious day off, which he could have spent with his family, walking his two Labradors or resting after an exacting 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday evening. Müller was not clock-watching, wasn’t just waiting for it all to end.

“If you are always complaining, you don’t feel good,” he said. “So I think, when you go, have fun. If you try to enjoy it, it is better.”

Besides, he knows that these visits are part of what it is to be a Bayern Munich player. These extracurricular activities are written into the club’s DNA. Few teams in the world prize success quite as much as Bayern; Müller is well aware that what happens on the field will always be the priority. But he also knows that his responsibilities do not end there. As he says, playing for Bayern is “more than just going to work.”

These are expansionist times for German soccer. Though the country’s Bundesliga remains well behind England’s Premier League in terms of international reach, it is doing all it can to close the gap.