GERMANY legend Gerd Muller died on Sunday morning aged 75.
Tributes poured in for the 1974 World Cup winner after his former club Bayern Munich announced the news.
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Muller was one of the finest strikers ever to play the game and scored a staggering 566 goals in 607 competitive matches for the Bundesliga giants.
He also holds the record for most ever Bundesliga goals with 365 from 427 games and was the league’s top scorer in seven seasons.
Bayern said: “Today the world of FC Bayern stands still.
“The German record champions and its entire fan base mourn Gerd Müller who died early Sunday morning at the age of 75.
“Gerd Müller made history with the German record champions and the German national team.
“The ‘bomber of the nation’, who came to FC Bayern in the summer of 1964, won the World Cup once, the European Champion’s Cup three times and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once.
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“He was also four times German champion and four times DFB Cup winner.
“After his career he stayed with the club for a long time as a coach for the youth teams. He leaves behind his wife Uschi and a daughter.”
Muller – who was nicknamed Der Bomber – was a prolific striker who scored 68 goals from just 62 games for West Germany from 1966 to 1974.
For the German national team, his highlight was scoring the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final against Holland. He was also part of the squad that won Euro ’72.
In 2018, Muller exclusively revealed to SunSport he was terrified of the Netherlands team of that era because of a fortune teller.
The goal machine began his career at 1869 Nordlingen, his hometown club, before joining Bayern Munich in 1964, aged 19.
He was part of the legendary Bayern team that won the European Cup three years in a row in the 1970s, which included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier.
And he held the record for most goals scored in a calendar year, striking 85 goals in 1972, which stood until Lionel Messi broke it in 2012.
Muller retired in 1981 and underwent treatment for alcoholism.
In 2015 he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
‘A SAD BLACK DAY’
Bayern president Herbert Hainer said: “Today is a sad, black day for FC Bayern and all of its fans.
“Gerd Müller was the greatest striker there has ever been – and a fine person, a personality in world football.
“We are united in deep sorrow with his wife Uschi and his family.
“Without Gerd Müller, FC Bayern would not be the club we all love today. His name and the memory of him will live on forever.”
Legendary goalkeeper, and now CEO of FC Bayern, Oliver Kahn added: “The news of Gerd Müller’s death affects us all deeply.
“He is one of the greatest legends in the history of FC Bayern, his achievements are unmatched to this day and will forever be part of the great history of FC Bayern and all of German football.
“As a player and as a person, Gerd Müller stands like no other for FC Bayern and its development into one of the largest clubs in the world.
“Gerd will be in our hearts forever.”
Superstar Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski is second behind Muller in the all-time Bundesliga goalscorers list with 276 from 349 games.
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So the Polish ace, 32, needs another 90 goals to beat the record.
In May this year he matched Muller’s incredible record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season.
And he paid tribute to the iconic striker with a t-shirt that read: “4EVER GERD”.
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