Yann Sommer is a face of the crisis at FC Bayern. The goalkeeper cannot adequately replace Manuel Neuer. The Swiss is said to have been only the second choice, because the Munich probably wanted to get Kasper Schmeichel. That failed because of Julian Nagelsmann.
YAnn Sommer cut an unhappy figure. The FC Bayern goalkeeper was unable to catch the harmless shot by Jae-Sung Lee from Mainz and let the ball flick forward. Ludovic Ajorque was there and dusted off to equalize. It was the beginning of Munich’s defeat in Mainz. Bayern lost 1:3 and lost the table lead to BVB. As with the 0: 3 in the Champions League quarter-finals against Manchester City, Sommer was not uninvolved in the defeat. The doubts as to whether the Swiss have the format for an absolute top club are getting louder.
Bayern signed the 34-year-old last winter after goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer broke his lower leg on a ski tour. “Neuer cannot be replaced as a personality in the club, otherwise they don’t have such a personality in the squad. Lewandowski is gone and Neuer is missing the most now. If Neuer comes back, I guarantee you, then the champions will be called Munich again,” said former Bayern coach Felix Magath.
Yann Sommer has rarely been able to impress in Bayern’s goal
Source: Getty Images/Matthias Hangst
He also does not trust Sommer to even come close to replacing Neuer. According to information from “Kicker”, summer was only the second choice for Bayern last winter. Munich are said to have initially tried hard to find Kasper Schmeichel from OGC Nice as a replacement for Neuer.
Nagelsmann insisted on a German-speaking goalkeeper
Negotiations with the Dane are said to have progressed very far. Schmeichel is said to have had a contract ready to be signed. The 36-year-old probably only wanted to sign a contract for six months – this corresponds to Neuer’s downtime.
Kasper Schmeichel, son of the Danish goalkeeper legend Peter, has played 91 international matches. In 2022 he moved to Nice from Leicester
Source: dpa/Robert Michael
But Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and former coach Julian Nagelsmann wanted a goalkeeper who would sign for longer than just six months. Nagelsmann is said to have insisted on hiring a German-speaking goalkeeper. So it was summer, whose contract in Munich runs until 2025.
