Bayern Munich find themselves in hot water again in the goalkeeping department.
Manuel Neuer has left the recruitment department with a fresh dilemma after suffering a broken rib during the Bavarian giants’ 1-0 DFB Pokal defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last Tuesday.
The Liverpool superstar is now ‘MAD’ to leave the club!
Manager Vincent Kompany confirmed the 38-year-old goalkeeper was unlikely to play for the club again before the new year (via fcbayern.com): “He’s broken his rib. He probably won’t play again this year. The important thing is that he’s healed now. Then hopefully we’ll have Manu back in January.”
The former German international was injured after a collision with Jeremie Frimpong linked to Liverpool.
Daniel Peretz (24) got between the posts for Bayern’s 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. The Israeli now remains in place for the upcoming Bundesliga meetings with FSV Mainz and RB Leipzig.
Not true: FC Bayern are not interested in Loris Karius
Loris Karius’ eyes could be forgiven for bulging to epic proportions if he picked up on reports suggesting a potential return to the German top flight, and not 32-time Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich either!
IMAGE (via bulinews.com) claimed the 31-year-old (last seen with Newcastle United in the 2023/24 campaign) was a potential candidate to bolster Die Roten’s goalkeeping options.
However, Christian Falk has it now CaughtOffside reportedin his exclusive fact file columnthat Bayern won’t do it Want to sign a goalkeeper in January: “The situation at Bayern is a bit complicated. Manuel Neuer is injured (broken rib) at the moment. So there are big discussions about what they will do.
“Now, they’ve decided they won’t go for a new goalkeeper in January, which is bad news for former Liverpool goalkeeper Karius, who was previously linked. He’s out.”
Bayern can look towards the Premier League
Bad news for Karius indeed. Although the former Mainz keeper enjoyed a semi-productive spell in the north-east of England, he hasn’t quite shaken off the specter of Liverpool’s 2018 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid .
At the Bayern end of the equation, the club’s recruitment team have set their sights on finding a longer-term solution to their goalkeeping conundrum.
To that end, Brighton and Hove Albion No.1 Bart Verbruggen has caught the attention of the decision-makers at Säbener Straße.
“Bayern want to arrange a loan deal in the summer transfer window to ensure he gets first-team minutes.” pointed out the football manager of the BILD Group.
“With that in mind, they’ll need a new back-up goalkeeper for Neuer. That’s why they’ve had a look at Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen, who is highly rated on the list.
Falk added: “Now Bayern have decided they need a good goalkeeper behind Neuer due to his injury. Maybe they need one who can also become #1.
“Manuel Neuer will sign a new contract until 2026 (but that’s not official yet), so they want a good goalkeeper, if he has to play, as Neuer is getting older. Don’t think of it as a No. 2 goalie, but a No. 1 goalie (a).
At 22, the Dutchman certainly ticks the box for the long term.
Even more intriguing, the statistics provider FBRef consider the footballer’s profile to be statistically similar to Neuer’s (second only to on-loan Bayern star Alexander Nubel).
However, Bayern would like to move quickly in this area, with this in mind Verbruggen has already attracted the interest of La Liga giants Real Madrid.
