Was among the longest-serving professionals
Julian Baumgartlinger wants to continue his career after the end of his contract at Bayer Leverkusen – ideally also in the Austrian national team under the new coach Ralf Rangnick. “I’ve become convinced that I want to continue playing,” said the 34-year-old, who has not received a new contract in Leverkusen after six years, the “dpa”.
It has not yet been decided where the former Mainz player will go. “I’m completely open-minded. The goal is secondary, what matters is that I want to keep playing.” After a few injuries in the past few years and months, the defensive midfielder “is enjoying training again, knowing that I am healthy and competitive”. The fact that he was captain for 60 minutes in the last game of the season last Saturday against SC Freiburg (2-1) was “another milestone” for Baumgartlinger. The right-footed player, who came from FSV in 2016 for 4 million euros and was one of the five longest-serving players in the Werkself squad, played 152 games for Bayer 04 – more than for any other club.
Baumgartlinger wants to continue playing for Austria – “Welcomes” upheaval under Rangnick
Most recently, he was also captain of Austria’s national team, which he missed for a year due to injury, but from which he did not resign. On the contrary: “If I can continue playing at a good level and the coach wants me, I’m ready,” he said. Since there hasn’t been any contact with Rangnick yet, he has “no idea what the coach is up to”.
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In principle, Baumgartlinger sees the commitment of the long-standing Bundesliga coach and current interim coach from Manchester United as positive. This decision was “exciting”, he said: “There will be a real upheaval with this coach, who also wants to change something within the association. And I welcome that too.”
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