FC Bayern is not making any progress in the contract games with Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski. Is the record champion threatened with the loss of top performers?
Manuel Neuer? Gerard Moreno almost scored a second Spanish goal in FC Bayern’s 0: 1 (0: 1) in Villarreal. Thomas Müller? Failed in slapstick fashion in the first leg of the quarterfinals. Serge Gnabry? Played weak. Robert Lewandowski? Only had 29 ball contacts. After a used evening in the frenetic Estadio de la Cerámica, all three attackers got the grade 5 (read more here), Neuer got the grade 4.
Significant: “Too many experienced players betray Julian Nagelsmann”, analyzed the Italian “Gazzetta dello Sport”. Those experienced players undoubtedly include Neuer, Müller and Lewandowski.
Striking: All three veterans and Gnabry have not yet extended their contracts in Munich (until 2023). Because a change is an issue? t-online explains who could go – and who will stay safe.
Bayern star Neuer makes Tegernsee his home
Manuel Neuer
The Bayern coach believes it shouldn’t fail because of the money: “No one is facing threatening financial ruin.” That sentence by Julian Nagelsmann was probably a pointer towards financially strong competition from England, Spain and Paris. Could another club poach the 36-year-old goalkeeper? The enthusiasm for his new home speaks clearly against it.
“He has an enormous passion for the mountains and nature. He is often out and about in the Valepp valley with his hiking boots or bicycle,” said Johannes Rabl, a close friend of Neuer, recently on t-online. Together with the restaurateur, the football star wants to refurbish an old forester’s lodge in the Mangfall mountains not far from Lake Tegernsee, where he lives, for four million euros (Read more about it here). “This is not a business case for us, but it shows his passion for the region,” explained Rabl. The Bayern star has to be there for the complex planning of his heart project. Not only, but also that makes a change unlikely.
Manuel Neuer: His contract runs until June 2023. (Source: Pressinphoto/imago images)
Müller is at Bayern before the legend status
Thomas Müller
Excluding the brilliant 7-1 win against RB Salzburg in the Champions League, the world champion has scored just one goal and two assists in his last eight appearances. If there is a problem with Müller, a figure that can be identified with, it creaks in the Bayern team. This won only seven of eleven Bundesliga games in the second half of the season. Added to this was the happy 1-1 in the premier class in Salzburg and the alarming 0-1 at FC Villarreal. Most recently, Müller left his whereabouts open.
“The club and we players are always in a certain exchange,” he explained and made people sit up and take notice: “The only question is how intensive the contact is – that’s where the wheat from the chaff is logically separated, whether you’re talking about the weather or real things contents of the contract.” The same applies to Müller as to Neuer: The 32-year-old attacker has his home in the deepest part of Upper Bavaria. Born in Weilheim, grew up in Pähl am Ammersee, he has been living with his wife Lisa in idyllic Otterfing near Lake Starnberg for years. With a view of the Alps and horse stud farm. More identification is not possible. He would endanger his legend status at Bayern Munich.
David Alaba lures buddy Gnabry to Madrid
Serge Gnabry
Ex-boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had put the loss per home game without spectators at four million euros in the corona pandemic. Club president Herbert Hainer spoke of a loss of sales of 150 million euros in the summer of 2021. And at the AGM in November, the bosses said that there were 26.9 million euros less in the fixed-term deposit account (209 million euros). The football giant has to budget. Most recently, Sky calculated that Munich would only have to plan 150 million euros for Neuer, Müller and Lewandowski.
The “Sport Bild” now reported that Bayern are planning to sell Gnabrys if he does not extend it soon. After David Alaba (Real Madrid), Niklas Süle (to BVB) and maybe Corentin Tolisso (contract ends), another star should be avoided at all costs. According to media reports, Alaba should campaign intensively for a change to the Madrilenians with buddy Gnabry. Even more: The 26-year-old Swabian is said to have repeatedly visited the 29-year-old Austrian in the Spanish capital. More salary. New city. Kick with the buddy. A Gnabry departure is quite possible.
Serge Gnabry: He has been playing for the record champions since 2017. (Source: Pressinphoto/imago images)
Does Lewandowski have irritations with Hasan Salihamidzic?
Robert Lewandowski
Hasan Salihamidzic’s work is hotly debated in Munich’s football bars. When the sports director at Sky confirmed that the club absolutely wanted to keep Lewandowski, he said on the same station: “I’m hearing that for the first time.” Instead, the Polish super striker did not admit to FC Bayern.
The 33-year-old has achieved everything with those Bavarians. According to Spanish “Sport”, FC Barcelona should offer him a four-year contract. Lewandowski’s agent Pini Zahivi is considered a friend of Barça President Joan Laporta. According to “Bild” and “Sport Bild”, the people of Munich only want to extend the contract by another year until 2024. “AS” sees the goalscorer again at Real Madrid, where he could “fulfill a dream”. Spain instead of Bundesliga? The longer the talks drag on, the more likely this scenario becomes.