By Mark Meadows, dpa l Wednesday, January 4, 2023
BERLIN – German great Lothar Matthäus thinks his former club Bayern Munich should try to sign Borussia Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer immediately as a replacement for the injured Manuel Neuer.
Germany’s Neuer, 36, is out for the season after breaking his leg skiing. Champions and Bundesliga leaders Bayern have Sven Ulreich as back-up but seem likely to recruit another keeper in the January transfer window. They also have Alexander Nübel on loan at Monaco.
Switzerland’s Sommer is out of contract in June so would be cheaper but the Bild newspaper has reported Bayern favour Eintracht Frankfurt’s Kevin Trapp, despite his deal running until 2024.
Matthäus believes signing Sommer, 34, “makes the most sense.”
He told Sky: “Bayern would have a class keeper who will not make a fuss in the summer when Neuer returns. For all parties, that would seems to me to be a very good transfer.”
A deal for Trapp, 32, does not appeal to Matthäus.
“For one thing, he still has a contract until 2024, Frankfurt are playing Napoli in the Champions League and they are up there in the championship,” the former Bayern captain said.
“And if you imagine a battle for the Bayern number one jersey from next summer between the two Germany national team goalkeepers, then that brings trouble and Bayern certainly don’t need that. I am clearly in favour of the solution with Yann Sommer.”
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported late on Monday that Sommer had met with Gladbach representatives before the end of the year for a “discussion about his prospects.”
The keeper indicated that he would like to move to Bayern, the newspaper reported.
For the majority of the Bayern squad, including Germany World Cup players such as Jamal Musiala, Serge Gnabry and Joshua Kimmich, Tuesday was the day to return to the club for obligatory performance diagnostics following the break.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann has scheduled a first training session for Wednesday. Two days later, the squad will head to a training camp in Qatar. The Bundesliga season resumes with champions and leaders Bayern visiting RB Leipzig on January 20.
