Manuel Neuer’s injury history so far this season is ringing certain alarm bells that many Bayern Munich fans have dreaded for quite some time. He’ll be turning 40 later this month and the veteran goalkeeper is getting to that point in his career where he’ll have to have serious conversations with the club about how much longer he feels he can consistently be the number one keeper. It’s now been twice in a short space of time that his calf problem has been reaggravated, which is bringing up memories
of past seasons where he was rushed back too quickly from a metatarsal problem — but even then, he was a few years younger.
Jonas Urbig has been a more than exceptional stand-in when Neuer has been out injured and internally at Bayern, there seems to be a great deal of faith that he can one day be the number one keeper once Neuer’s time is up. The idea of splitting time more evenly throughout future seasons has also been discussed if Neuer winds up extending his contract by another season, so there are options on the table.
Board member for sport Max Eberl recently restressed the idea that Bayern want to wait until Neuer turns 40 at the end of the month to see how he feels with regard to a potential contract extension. They’ll want to look at his health, fitness, and his performance track record from the season on the whole. Taking the necessary time to make the right decisions is what’s most important for Eberl, Neuer, and the club, though.
“We’ve always said he should wait until he turns 40 at the end of March. And then we’ll sit down and talk things through calmly. Then he has to tell us how he feels. And we have to decide for ourselves how to proceed. He’s had an outstanding season so far; he’s a top goalkeeper. This injury doesn’t change anything for us. In the end, we will make a decision together with Manu,” Eberl stressed (via @iMiaSanMia).
For the time being, with Neuer’s most recent injury setback, he’ll miss leg one of the Champions League Round of 16 vs Atalanta in Bergamo, the Bundesliga clash vs. Bayer Leverkusen, and possibly even the return leg in Munich vs. Atalanta.
