“I’m sure that Nagelsmann has this in mind”
DFB return of Neuer? Now Joachim Löw speaks out
Updated 10/12/2025 – 10:54 amReading time: 2 minutes
The debate about Manuel Neuer’s possible return to the DFB team continues to gain momentum. Now ex-national coach Joachim Löw also speaks out.
Former national coach Joachim Löw believes that his successor in the DFB office will deal with a return campaign for Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who actually resigned. “If Manuel Neuer continues to play at this very highest level, as we have recently seen and have known for many years, I am sure that Julian Nagelsmann has that in mind,” Löw told “Bild”. A possible return campaign must be assessed purely from a sporting perspective and “should not be a decision based on nostalgia,” but Löw is sure “that Julian is thinking about bringing Manuel back.”
There is currently uncertainty in the goalkeeper position in the national team. The actual number one, Marc-André ter Stegen, will be out injured for a long time and has lost his regular place at FC Barcelona. He would probably have to find a new club in the winter to keep his chance of getting a World Cup ticket. A difficult task that could also fail.
In Ter Stegen’s absence, Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann is currently guarding the German goal. Recently, however, there has been an increasing number of voices insisting on the 39-year-old Neuer’s return, especially with a view to the 2026 World Cup. He actually ended his DFB career after the home European Championship in the summer of 2024, but is currently in top form at FC Bayern.
Löw recommends that Nagelsmann make a timely decision: “With a view to the 2026 World Cup, he will make a decision, and it also depends on the timing: If there is a Neuer comeback, it makes sense to have Manuel there in the last games before the World Cup.”
The ex-national coach also draws a comparison to his own term in office, when he had actually already sorted out Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels from the DFB team, but then brought them back for the 2021 European Championship. The national coach makes the decisions and therefore has to take a step towards Neuer, said Löw about Nagelsmann. “If Julian decides that this makes sense, he has to seek discussion. It was similar with me with Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller,” he remembers: “We said: ‘There was a decision, but for certain reasons we would revise it. Are you ready to return?’ It was about who could help the tournament at this moment.”
Sometimes it is necessary to overturn plans that have been made. “If the situation requires it, as a national coach you are sometimes forced to make decisions that you had not planned a year and a half before,” said Löw.