Champions Bayern to start season with major goalkeeper problems

Soccer Football – Bayern Munich presents its new team for the 2023/24 Bundesliga season – Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany – July 23, 2023 Bayern Munich’s Sven Ulreich, Manuel Neuer, Yann Sommer and Alexander Nubel during the presentation REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth

BERLIN, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Bayern Munich will kick off their season with their German Super Cup match against RB Leipzig on Saturday but will have no first choice keeper as a search on the transfer market has yet to yield any results.

The German champions will have experienced 35-year-old Sven Ulreich, who at times was the club’s third choice, in goal for the game against Leipzig.

But with starting keeper Manuel Neuer set to miss the start of the season as he recovers from a broken leg, Alexander Nuebel having gone to VfB Stuttgart, Johannes Schenk now at Preussen Muenster and Yann Sommer having joined Inter Milan, the Bavarians find themselves with no options.

Germany keeper Neuer, who broke his leg during a skiing holiday in December following a disappointing World Cup, underwent another surgery 10 days ago to remove metal parts from his leg that had been put in during his initial surgery.

Bayern have said his recovery “is on track” but have not set a date for his return and there is no doubt that Neuer will miss several weeks, if not more, of the new Bundesliga campaign that starts next week.

Back in December there was the hope that he would be fit again in time for the new season.

“It is a great uncertainty if Manuel Neuer can come back,” said former footballer and currently pundit Dietmar Hamann. “And if he comes back we do not know in what shape he will come back.”

“Bayern have to sign a starting keeper now,” he told German media.

Bayern have reportedly shown interest for several top keepers including Kepa Arrizabalaga and David de Gea among other but so far there has been little in terms of progress.

Yet it was not the goalkeeper position that Bayern were desperate to fill before the season.

The summer transfer window was supposed to be the chance to reinforce their frontline to become a contender again for the Champions League.

Bayern, who won the German League under coach Thomas Tuchel but missed out on any other silverware, are currently trying to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.

But club bosses are now faced with the keeper question, an issue that could prove an even bigger challenge with the season just around the corner and the Bavarians about to launch their bid for an unprecedented 12th straight Bundesliga crown.

Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.