For a long time there were many indications that Manuel Neuer, after breaking his leg in mid-December 2022, was on target and would be available to FC Bayern again in preparation for the coming season. However, new information raises serious doubts – and presents the Munich team with a challenge.
On Friday, the TV station “Sky” announced that Manuel Neuer will probably miss the start of Bayern Munich’s training session. And what’s more: The captain will probably miss the Asia trip of the German record champions. The tendency is that he does not get on the plane.
“Manuel Neuer’s return is dragging on, that will take a while,” confirmed “Sky” reporter Florian Plettenberg on “Transfer Update – the show”. “It’s because of the very, very complicated injury, the broken leg. It’s just not ready yet,” Plettenberg continued. “No one can say” when Neuer can really return between the posts.
For the people of Munich, the ambiguity surrounding the long-standing number one poses some dangers. With Yann Sommer, Sven Ulreich and Alexander Nübel there are three other strong goalkeepers in the Munich squad, but how much they still have their heads in the Bavarian capital can be questioned.
Nübel, who was loaned to AS Monaco in the last two years (contract until 2025), has long since made it clear that he will no longer play for Bayern if he has to compete with Neuer. According to “Sky”, the Paderborn native has already received inquiries from the Premier League. The 26-year-old “is dealing with various offers,” it says.
Sommer (contract until 2024), who was signed as a new representative last season but was not always able to convince, should also have “options”, including Inter Milan. According to the report, it was verbally agreed that Sommer would be allowed to leave Bavaria again if Neuer returned as number one. How the scenario will end is not yet foreseeable, says Plettenberg.
Millions of hooks in FC Bayern’s flirt
Ulreich (contract until 2024) should remain independent of the time of Neuer’s return, but the 34-year-old was not trusted last season to replace Neuer in the long term.
This is probably one of the reasons why rumors recently circulated in the media that FC Bayern had their eye on talented keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from FC Valencia. According to “Sky”, an official exchange is still pending, but it is believed that the Georgian could replace Neuer in the long term. Bayern’s technical director Marco Neppe is said to have already met the youngster’s management.
However, the matter has a catch worth millions: The 22-year-old is still under contract in Valencia until the summer of 2027, so a transfer would probably require a hefty fee. “Sky” puts this at 20 to 30 million euros, a sum that Bayern do not want to invest in a substitute player, at least this summer.
Especially since you probably have to pay a lot of money for a new centre-forward. Either way: the people of Munich will probably have busy weeks ahead of them.