Manuel Neuer has suffered a setback in his return to full fitness for Bayern Munich as he’s been working his way back from a serious leg injury sustained back in March that kept him out of the rest of the season.
Neuer was well on track to be back for the start of the club’s preseason preparations set to begin next week, but now he’s even a doubt for the club’s Asia trip planned for the end of the month. This now throws a bit of a spanner in the works for Bayern’s goalkeeping situation as both Yann Sommer and Alexander Nübel have been linked with moves away during this summer’s transfer window.
Per Sport Bild’s Christian Falk and Tobi Altschaffl (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern wants to avoid going into the new season with only Sven Ulreich as Neuer’s backup, which could very well be the possibility if both Sommer and Nübel wind up moving on. The club has recently been linked with Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili, though most of their transfer focus has been centered on trying to complete a deal for Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane. VfB Stuttgart has expressed interest in both Sommer and Nübel, too, though the latter would prefer a move to the Premier League in England.
BFW Analysis
The club is now in a tricky spot, especially with Sommer. There have been rumors linking him with a move away this summer as he would want to go somewhere where he can be the number one keeper. It’s a tough sell to ask him to stay under the assumption he might act as the number one for a small portion of the beginning phases of the season while Neuer gets back up to 100%.
Realistically, the best option would be striking an appropriate deal with Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili. Fabrizio Romano reported earlier this month that personal terms with the Georgian keeper “won’t be an issues.” It will really just come down to the negotiating between Bayern and Valencia as far as a transfer fee is concerned. He’s currently valuated around €25.00m per Transfermarkt and his contract at Valencia runs through June 2027.
The issue with Bayern is that his release clause is worth €100m, so Valencia will have more pull at the proverbial negotiating table.
