Jerome Boateng not returning until March?

Bayern Munich aren’t expecting Jerome Boateng back on the field until March, according to a new report from Kicker. He’s still recovering from the surgery he had in December to repair damage to his pectoral muscle.

Following his surgery, Bayern projected that he would be out around six weeks for recovery, which meant that he would return around the beginning of February. It appears, however, that Bayern took the “early return time” and ran with it.

Kicker is reporting that the surgeon Prof. Dr. Andreas Imhoff has always been targeting a March return for Boateng and the “six weeks” was on the optimistic end. If he’s out until March, it’s likely that Boateng will miss both of Bayern’s Round of 16 matches against Arsenal.

With Badstuber on the verge of a loan, Bayern have Mats Hummels and Javi Martinez are the regular centerbacks with David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich ready to fill-in as necessary.