It has been an open secret that Thomas Müller will be leaving Bayern Munich come the end of the 2024/25 season for a while, but recent reports suggest that Bayern captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is set to join him in retirement after the upcoming campaign.
According to Bild, those at the top of the Bayern hierarchy expect the pair to retire, freeing up valuable space in the wage budget as each earns approximately €20 million per year.
Bayern bosses expect both Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer to retire next summer. Both are among the top earners with an estimated salary of €20m per year each. Although that doesn’t help this summer, it would free up big wages in 2025 [@SPORTBILD] pic.twitter.com/GaGJkUwYLG
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) June 11, 2024
While it has become increasingly apparent that the amount Bayern pays its players in wages is problematic, the biggest takeaway from this piece of news shouldn’t be that extra money will be available.
Bayern Munich is losing its identity.
Neuer and Müller are Bayern’s captain and vice-captain and have been members of the senior squad since 2011 and 2009 respectively, winning two Champions League titles in their time at the club. When one thinks of Bayern, these are the first two players that come to mind, they embody the Mia San Mia attitude, they are Bayern Munich.
After Neuer and Müller, Joshua Kimmich is the senior-most member of the squad, with Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman, and Serge Gnabry rounding out that particular generation of long-term Bayern players. One might imagine that they would be responsible for filling the Müller and Neuer-shaped holes that will be left at the club, except Bayern is seemingly willing to offload all of them.
With Matthijs De Ligt also a candidate to be sold, who’s supposed to lead the team? Mathys Tel and Aleksandar Pavlović both have excellent mentalities and seem set for influential roles in the future but are a long way from being senior leaders in the dressing room.
None of Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano, or Leroy Sané give the impression that they have the personality to lead, and no one else of high stature has spent enough time at the club to be its face on and off the pitch.
Now, it is unlikely that every player rumored to leave this summer actually does, but the fact that the board is ready to make these sweeping changes is worrisome nonetheless.
Regardless of what happens, replacing the impact of Neuer and Müller will be an insurmountable challenge. They are excellent players who have been central to Bayern’s success in recent years and their contributions to the club will be sorely missed.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on where the German national team stands ahead of its EURO 2024 opener against Scotland? Well, we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show, where we hit on the team’s form, Julian Nagelsmann’s potential starting lineup, and why fans are correct to be at least a little concerned. if you want to check it out, you can get it on Spotify or below: