When Manuel Neuer suffered a double leg break during a skiing accident after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there were concerns that the Bayern Munich captain may have to call time upon his professional career.
As well as this, there were also reports suggesting that Julain Nagelsmann, the Bayern head coach at the time, would strip the 38-year-old of his captaincy.
In line to replace Neuer at the time was Joshua Kimmich; however, after departing Bavaria, the now-German national team head coach was unable to fast-track Kimmich to the armband.
Nevertheless, there is now a belief that Kimmich could fulfil his prophecy and become the captain of Der Rekordmeister.
With Neuer now in the twilight of his career, those in charge at Bayern are planning for the shot-stopper’s eventual retirement, and contingency plans for the club captaincy are taking place.
While Kimmich and Bayern have had their troubles over the past twelve months, their relationship has stabilised; with the midfielder’s contract set to come to an end this summer, a renewal appears to be inevitable.
This would also see Kimmich be placed into pole position to take over the captaincy of the club in the foreseeable future, and speaking to BR24Sport, Bayern’s director of sport, Max Eberl, also made this quite clear:
“It’s not for nothing that he is captain of the German national team. He should be the captain of Bayern Munich of the future. First, we have to extend the contract, which will be strenuous enough.”
Jamal Musiala is another contender to succeed Neuer, but with the 21-year-old’s future more uncertain than that of Kimmich’s, there could be a risk in offering the midfielder the captaincy.
GGFN | Will Shopland
