Football: German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer sidelined until 2018 after leg injury

Thursday, September 21, 2017

On Tuesday, German football club Bayern Munich announced Manuel Neuer, their goalkeeper and captain, had surgery on his left foot and is expected to miss footballing action for the rest of the year. The club announced it via their website.

31-year-old Neuer suffered injury from Monday's training for their match against Schalke 04. His hairline fracture of the metatarsal of his left foot was treated on Tuesday by Doctor Ulrich Stöckle in Tübingen.

Bayern Munich AG's CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, "Manuel Neuer has sustained another injury and we're incredibly sorry for him. The operation went perfectly, whch is the most important thing for now. We and our captain are now looking to the future. Manuel will be back to his previous best and available to us again in January." ((de))German language: ‍Dass Manuel Neuer sich erneut eine Verletzung zugezogen hat, tut uns wahnsinnig leid für ihn. Die Operation ist optimal verlaufen und das ist jetzt das Wichtigste. Wir sehen jetzt gemeinsam mit unserem Kapitän nach vorne. Manuel wird uns im Januar in alter Stärke wieder zur Verfügung stehen.

Former Stuttgart goalie Sven Ulreich, who played only twelve games since joining Bayern in 2015 until Monday, is likely to fill Neuer's place until Neuer returns. Baryern faces Celtic as well as Paris-Saint Germain in the group stage of UEFA Champions League. FC Barcelona's shotstopper Marc-André ter Stegen is expected to guard the German nets for the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers for next year's tournament in Russia.

Neuer suffered a toe injury in March, and a fracture after the second leg of UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid in April. Neuer recovered from the original fracture from April, and joined the team late last month. His club and national teammates including Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller, Franck Ribéry, Jerome Boateng, Mario Götze, and Toni Kroos wished him a speedy recovery via Twitter.

Sources