World Cup winners including Thomas Müller buy Portuguese top-flight team in $47M deal

By: The Associated Press Posted: 9:22 AM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026

AMADORA, Portugal (AP) — Three World Cup winners are among an international consortium that has bought a majority stake in Portuguese top-flight club Estrela da Amadora.

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AMADORA, Portugal (AP) — Three World Cup winners are among an international consortium that has bought a majority stake in Portuguese top-flight club Estrela da Amadora.

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AMADORA, Portugal (AP) — Three World Cup winners are among an international consortium that has bought a majority stake in Portuguese top-flight club Estrela da Amadora.

Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels and Lucas Hernandez — as well as Yann Sommer — are part of the investment group that has bought a 90% stake in the club.

The group reportedly paid 40 million euros ($47 million) to former owner and president Paulo Lopo, who bought Estrela for 72,000 euros ($84,000) in 2020.

FILE - Dortmund's Mats Hummels celebrates after the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, April 16, 2024(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

The deal was confirmed by Estrela on Tuesday. The consortium is led by ADvantage and LEAD, with the support of the KI Group.

Müller and Hummels were an integral part of Germany’s World Cup success in 2014, while Hernandez helped France win soccer’s top prize four years later.

Former Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer currently plays for Club Brugge, having left Serie A champion Inter Milan at the end of last season.

Müller, who is at Vancouver Whitecaps, played with the other three at various times during his lengthy Bayern Munich career.

Johannes Mösmang will take over the presidency of Estrela from Lopo. The 35-year-old Mösmang has spent the past decade at Bayern, working in the player-management department.

It is an astonishing rise to the limelight for Estrela, which was declared insolvent in 2011.

After a merger with Sintra in 2020, Estrela returned to the third tier of Portuguese soccer before climbing back into the top flight in 2023.

It finished 15th in the 18-team Primeira Liga last season, securing safety thanks to a better head-to-head record over Casa Pia, the team immediately below it.

Estrela is based in Amadora, 10 kilometers (six miles) northwest of Lisbon.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here