The 2024 European Championships was a competition for retirements for Germany. Everybody knew Toni Kroos would retire from national team duty following the tournament but Thomas Müller followed suit while rumors that İlkay Gündoğan and Manuel Neuer would consider retiring as well. The latter, however, remains undecided on the matter.
When Neuer was quizzed on his national team future following the player’s arrival in Seoul for Bayern Munich’s summer training camp, reporter Vinzent Tschirpke captured Neuer’s response, which in turn was captured by @iMiaSanMia, which details what the Bayern Munich goalkeeper’s thoughts on the matter are:
“It’s not yet time for me to announce what will happen next. Toni Kroos also took a bit of a long break and then came back for the tournament.”
The next tournament for Neuer would be the 2026 World Cup. And if there is one thing Bayern fans know about Neuer is that he does not quit. He did not quit when he suffered consecutive terrible injuries that kept him out for over a year, he did not give up when an impromptu skiing trip saw him suffer an injury that would force most others into retirement…nor has he ever given up game time to goalkeepers lower in the pecking order. Whether it is the right move or not, retirement before the age of 40 simply does not sound like Manuel Neuer.
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