Manuel Neuer interview casts doubt on Bayern Munich future

Bayern Munich will have "clear talks" with injured captain Manuel Neuer, says club CEO Oliver Kahn after Neuer made a series of controversial comments.

Neuer, 36, criticized the club over the recent dismissal of goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic, his long term confidante, in interviews with The Athletic and Süddeutsche Zeitung. 

"For me it was a blow when I was already lying on the ground. I felt like my heart was being ripped out, that was the most extreme thing I have experienced in my career," Neuer said.

"We want to be different, a family, as Bayern Munich. And then something happens that I have never experienced here like this," he added, before labeling the decision "a mystery."

Kahn wants serious talk with Neuer

The interviews, which are believed to have been granted without the permission of the club, look to have landed Neuer in hot water with his bosses. "What Manuel said in parts of these two interviews in connection with the release of Toni Tapalovic does justice neither to him as captain nor to the values of FC Bayern," Kahn told press agency DPA.

On Sunday, before Bayern's 4-2 win in Wolfsburg, head coach Julian Nagelsmann told broadcaster DAZN he agreed with Kahn's statement, adding: "In my eyes it was right not to discuss the separation from Toni Tapalovic publicly. It does not make things any calmer, but my door is always open."

Afterwards, Thomas Müller said the team isn't letting the public dispute influence their football. The atacker did add with a smile though, that he "always think it's good when things are stirring around Bayern Munich."

Bayern's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic told German newspaper Bild that while he understood Neuer was affected he "expected different behavior from him, especially as captain" and that the goalkeeper "put his personal interests above the interest of the club."

Neuer has not appeared for Bayern since before the World Cup after breaking his leg in a skiing accident. He admitted he told the playing group of the injury by WhatsApp, while the club have already publicly questioned why their skipper was skiiing during a season. 

The timing of the interviews is also problematic for Bayern, with the club facing Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League knockouts on February 14. 

"His statements come at an inopportune time because we are facing very important games," Kahn said. "He is personally affected, you have to understand that to a certain extent. We were also aware of that when we explained to him that the decision on the goalkeeper coach, which was not taken lightly, was the best thing for our team at that moment."

Kahn has also said they may ask Neuer to take a wage cut, while further disciplinary action appears likely. Elsewhere in the interviews, Neuer said he and the German team felt unsupported by the public at the Qatar World Cup. "We had relatively little support from back home. If I compare that to the energy we experienced in 2010… that was insane. There was more focus on political issues than we had ever witnessed," he said.

Fellow international teammate and Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp offered Neuer support, telling Sky that "if Manu felt he had to speak up then so be it... I can imagine it wasn't nice for Manu."

What next for Neuer?

The veteran keeper, who signed from Schalke back in 2011, also insisted his career, both with Bayern and Germany, was not in doubt as a result of his injury or Bayern signing Yann Sommer, a level of internal competition Neuer says he relishes.

But others are not so sure. Former Bayern skipper Stefan Effenberg used his new column with news portal t-online to question "whether it makes sense" for Neuer to see out his contract, which expires in 2024. "I wouldn't be surprised if it came to a parting of the ways in the summer," Effenberg wrote, adding that the goalkeeper had "certainly made life very difficult, if not impossible, for himself at Bayern in the future."

Current coach Julian Nagelsmann has tried to distance himself from the decision to sack Tapalovic, but will surely be asked about the relationship with his captain when Bayern face Wolfsburg on Sunday.

The champions will go in to that one chasing Union Berlin, unusally slipping from the summit after a poor restart. But it's clearly not just on the pitch where things are not quite right.

mp/msh (dpa, SID)