Manuel Neuer may be heading into his final season as a professional. The Bayern captain’s contract expires in the summer of 2027, and retirement is a possibility. However, the 40-year-old does not want to commit to that just yet.
In the 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig in the Telekom Cup, Neuer played the entire match in goal and demonstrated with several saves that he can still perform at a high level.
After the match, the Bayern captain expressed satisfaction with the team’s current form. “Pre-season is going well. Every friendly is important, no matter who the opponent is,” Neuer explained on MagentaTV.
He also said he was already pleased with the team’s performance against Aston Villa. Against Leipzig, the veteran now saw the next step: “We deserved to win and put in a good performance; we also made a few substitutions, and the team looked different.”
Neuer doesn’t want to commit to anything
However, Neuer’s comments on his personal future were far more intriguing. Already last season, the goalkeeper had given serious thought to potentially ending his career. Ultimately, he decided to extend his contract once more, through 2027.
When asked whether he had just played in his final Telekom Cup, Neuer declined to give a definitive answer. “I’m not making that decision based on the Telekom Cup. For now, I’m just going to let things unfold,” emphasized the 2014 World Cup champion.
For now, his focus is exclusively on the coming months: “I’ll structure the season so that I can pursue my biggest goals. And we’ll see about everything else later.”
Urbig is ready to take over
This leaves open the question of whether Neuer will actually end his extraordinary career in the summer of 2027 or possibly continue for a while longer.
FC Bayern has already positioned itself for the future between the posts. Jonas Urbig is considered the designated successor to the longtime captain and is expected to see regular playing time in the new season as well.
For now, however, Neuer remains the number one. And his comments after the Leipzig game show that the 40-year-old does not want to make a final decision about ending his career until a later date.