There is still a little time until the start of the Bundesliga. Only on January 20th will RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich open the second half of the season with their duel. Until then, teams are doing training camps and strengthening (at least some) in the transfer market. Things are getting particularly serious for the two industry leaders FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who each have to make personnel decisions that will reach far into the future.
While Bayern desperately need a replacement for the seriously injured goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, BVB has to think about signing the beloved super talent Youssoufa Moukoko. The personal details are of great importance for the clubs, albeit in different ways.
There was good news for the eternal second from Dortmund. Sébastien Haller is back in training. The French attacker was diagnosed with testicular cancer after his transfer in the summer. Now he’s healed after two surgeries and chemotherapy, and the hair is slowly growing back on his bald head. On Monday he took part in the usual performance diagnostics and was due to return to the training ground on Wednesday. It looks like he’ll be flying to the training camp in Marbella in southern Spain on Friday and will soon be playing his first game in the black and yellow jersey.
In the bottom is Haller, who was signed in the summer as the successor to storm tank Erling Haaland, a real newcomer that coach Edin Terzic should look forward to. Because BVB could do with a refresher in terms of personnel given the moderate performance in the first 15 games of the current season. Dortmund are in sixth place and are therefore much worse than expected.
Haller’s return should not be good news for the whereabouts of another attacker. Of course, 18-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko will be delighted with his colleague’s recovery, but it could have a negative impact on his job at BVB. Moukoko’s contract expires in the summer, the club is said to have presented the highly talented player with a new paper ready for signature in the fall, but the international is hesitant to sign.
The question for him is whether he will get as many playing times alongside Haller as in the past few months when the Frenchman was absent. Moukoko played regularly in the league, Champions League and cup after ousting Anthony Modeste from the starting XI. The homegrown team scored six goals.
At BVB they want to keep the talent, but not at any price. It is said that the salary demands of the player and his agent Patrick Williams are double the current offer from BVB. At another top European club, Moukoko could earn significantly more and collect a handsome hand money. It may be that Moukoko gambled too high and his time is up in the summer.
For BVB, a pillar for future planning would break away. That would be particularly galling as the towering Jude Bellingham is expected to leave for a move back to the Premier League. If both left the club, it would be a real loss of substance. It will be interesting to see how the poker turns out for Moukoko.
At Bayern the situation is different. The league leaders must be without their regular goalkeeper for at least six months. As is well known, Manuel Neuer went on a ski tour right after the end of the World Championships in Qatar and broke his lower leg. Neuer will be out for at least half a year, the season is over for him.
Since then, the club has been desperately looking for an alternative. Substitute goalkeeper Sven Ulreich is not considered good enough to replace Neuer over a longer distance. The problem: The personnel situation is difficult because you need a very good goalkeeper quickly, but maybe only for half a year. As a precaution, Neuer, who is 36 years old, announced that he would like to be the regular keeper again in the new season. He does not want to give up his position voluntarily. Who comes to Munich for six months and then sits back on the bench?
For this reason, former Schalke player Alexander Nübel has already expressed reservations. The 26-year-old is on loan from Bayern to AS Monaco. He could return early for little money if the French find a replacement. Nübel had always been planned as Neuer’s successor. But Nübel seems to be shy. He has made it clear that he is not ready to sit on the bench again when Neuer is healthy. Nevertheless, Nübel is still considered a candidate.
Another solution appears more likely and it is called Yann Sommer. The Gladbach goalkeeper is considered a hot candidate to help out at short notice. Sommer, it is said, has already submitted to those responsible in Mönchengladbach that he absolutely wants to change. The Swiss national keeper is one of the best in Europe and, at 34, very experienced. Manchester United are said to have expressed an interest. From Bayern’s point of view, Sommer will come to Munich for six months at best, in order to then be passed on to the English and make room for a fit Neuer.
It would be the simplest solution, but it relies on too many unsecured assumptions. What nobody can answer at the moment: Will new people ever find their way back to the old form? In recent years, the national goalkeeper has been plagued by several injuries, including breaking his foot three times and now the fracture in his lower leg. Sommer would be a goalkeeper who would have what it takes to be Bayern’s new number one for longer. That is also a possibility.
Sources: DPA, “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, “kicker”, “Spiegel”
