How appealing is it being Manuel Neuer's backup?

Manuel Neuer's injury during a post-World Cup ski trip put Bayern Munich in a precarious spot.

The 36-year-old is expected to miss the remainder of the current season after breaking his leg after a skiing accident. Though perhaps not the keeper he once was, Neuer's loss is not ideal for a club with consistently high aspirations, winning the Champions League among them.

Bayern's goalkeeper situation was a frequent news topic over the holidays, with the defending league champions linked with various big names before eventually recruiting Yann Sommer from Borussia Mönchengladbach — the swiss goalkeeper has signed a contract until June 2025.

"Yann Sommer is a valuable addition for us, because he has a wealth of international experience and has already played in the Bundesliga for many years," Bayern CEO and former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said as part of a club statement. "He has everything required to contribute immediately to our success. We’re certain we can achieve our goals with Yann Sommer."

Sommer has the right qualifications — he saved 19 shots against Bayern in their first meeting this season in August — and should provide Bayern with a steady pair of hands at the back. Having joined Gladbach from FC Basel in 2014, the move to Munich is a deserved step up after his eight-and-a-half seasons with the Foals, giving him a chance to win major silverware for the first time in his career.

But while the short term seems rosy for both sides, the prospect of Neuer's return could present quite an awkward situation down the road.

Neuer is the undisputed No. 1

Neuer's unrivaled generational talent has naturally made him undroppable when healthy. He played in 94% of Bayern Munich's games in his first five seasons, and though he has missed more time since, he has always been Bayern's undeniable No. 1.

It's a similar story for the national team: he has started all but one match for Germany at major tournaments — the third-place match at the 2010 World Cup being the exception — since becoming the starter in 2009. The only tournament he didn't feature in was the 2017 Confederations Cup, a tournament Germany won despite many from the 2014 World Cup team being left to the side.

As a consequence, both Bayern and Germany have had a slew of backups in their ranks that rarely ever saw the field. Many go in with the understanding that Neuer is the top dog, but the backup role has not sat well with all those next in line.

A brief history of Neuer's backups

Neuer's first backup at Bayern during the 2011-12 season was Hans-Jörg Butt, a seasoned goalkeeper who retired a season later. Thomas Kraft, a Bayern academy product and the starter the previous season, opted not to settle for a backup role, moving to Hertha Berlin on a free transfer.

Following Butt's retirement, Bayern recruited Tom Starke, a solid but not spectacular goalkeeper from Hoffenheim, to sit behind Neuer during their treble season. He would go on to make just 12 appearances in six seasons for Bayern, most coming once Bayern had already secured the league title, before retiring in 2018.

Pepe Reina, a longtime goalkeeper for Liverpool, joined the goalkeeping ranks for the 2014-15 season. Having few prospects at Liverpool after their addition of Simon Mignolet, the Spanish goalkeeper, then 32, admitted in an interview with German magazine Kicker that he preferred moving to "a major club like Bayern over a spot on the bench at Liverpool." He departed the club after one season, keeping three clean sheets in three appearances and lifting the Bundesliga title — the lone league title in his career.

Sven Ulreich effectively replaced Reina for the 2015-16 season, a curious move given the German goalkeeper was just 28 and a starter at Stuttgart. Suggestions swirled that Ulreich's move was financially motivated — he reportedly received a slight pay bump despite settling for a backup role — but Ulreich later revealed to the Stuttgarter Zeitung that club leadership suggested he should find a different club.

Ulreich has seen the most time of any of Neuer's backups, making 86 appearances overall. Most notably, he filled in admirably for Neuer for 41 games during the 2017-18 season, though an embarrassing blunder in the Champions League semifinals cost Bayern a chance at another European triumph.

Nübel not prepared to play second fiddle

So, for the most part, most of Bayern's backup goalkeepers during Neuer's tenure have accepted their role. Alex Nübel was really the first to buck that trend.

Recruited from Schalke after Bayern's treble-winning season in 2020, the up-and-coming goalkeeping talent made just four appearances for Bayern in the 2020-21 season. This was despite the fact that, according to Kicker, he was promised 10 appearances. Nübel moved to Monaco on a two-year loan after one season in Munich, and before Neuer signed his recent contract extension, Nübel's agent said the young goalkeeper would "find a different path" should Neuer remain the undisputed top player.

If anyone can relate to Nübel's plight, it's Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The 30-year-old goalkeeper has been the man-in-waiting for the German national team since the 2014 World Cup. However, despite stellar showings for Barcelona, ter Stegen has received just 13 Germany caps in the five-and-a-half years since being Germany's main man at the 2017 Confederations Cup.

"Of course I would like to play more, but Manu has done a great job in the German national team, and we can't just forget about that or the success," ter Stegen recently told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo. "I am always the same. I try to give my best at Barca and to be able to offer the coach solutions in case he has other ideas."

The right move for Sommer?

Ultimately, it's difficult to come up with the perfect Manuel Neuer backup, which has perhaps made Bayern's recent search all the more difficult. Nübel turned down the chance to return to Bayern, telling German tabloid Bild that it made "little sense" to end his loan spell at Monaco six months early.

Sommer, a 34-year-old proven veteran with an international pedigree, is a clear upgrade over Ulreich and ensures that Bayern don't have to turn to an unproven academy product in an emergency. But whether the move would be ideal for the Swiss keeper, even with its chance at silverware, is a more difficult question.

In the short-term a team poised to contend for the Champions League, not to mention both domestic titles, which would make for a pleasant prospect for the first six months. The multiyear agreement Sommer signed also wouldn't necessarily preclude him from leaving after the season — he would likely have as many suitors as he would if he fulfills the remainder of his contract with Gladbach, and Bayern could get something in return.

Perhaps, as Reina was, he's at the point in his career where he craves a bit of silverware, and a backup role wouldn't bother him for a season or two. Or he may even fancy himself as someone who could finally supplant Neuer as the undisputed starter.

Regardless, Bayern needed a goalkeeping solution now, and what happens when Neuer returns may be a problem the club, and whomever they recruit, can worry about later.

Edited by: Matt Pearson