Report: Manuel Neuer currently decides when and how long he trains for Bayern Munich

Per new information from Bild, it is currently up to Manuel Neuer to decide how often and how long he trains for Bayern Munich.

Julian Nagelsmann has full confidence that Neuer is experienced enough to make the right decisions in that department and it’s primarily because he doesn’t want Neuer to overdue it since he technically returned from a COVID infection last month. Neuer had his infection at the end of the winterpause and had to stay in quarantine in the Maldives before being able to return to Munich and he missed Bayern’s Ruckrunde opener against Borussia Monchengladbach (2-1 loss) when Sven Ulreich had to deputize in goal.

Per the report, during the past couple of weeks Neuer primarily does individual goalkeeper training with Bayern’s head goalkeeping coach, Toni Tapalovic, with added indoor sessions in the gym spliced in to the regiments. This was the case most of this week, too, as Neuer only resumed training with the rest of the team on Wednesday in preparation for this weekend’s clash against RB Leipzig.

The reason for this setup for Neuer isn’t just because he’s a veteran player that does whatever he wants separate from the rest of the squad, but rather to avoid any sort of complications since he recently recovered from the coronavirus. Bayern has seen with cases like Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies that mild to no symptoms at all during infection doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t other potentially harmful things going on that need to be closely monitored. In that sense, there is absolutely no point in taking any unnecessary risks.

Granted, Neuer was able to return to the starting lineup for Bayern for the wins over FC Köln and Hertha Berlin after the loss to Monchengladbach, but the risk is a bit lower for a goalkeeper as opposed to an outfield player. Unlike Kimmich and Davies, Neuer didn’t have any reported complications after his infection, at least complications that were reported on, but Nagelsmann still trusts Neuer to train at his own pace in a manner that won’t run any sort of risks.

Photo by Nico Paetzel/DeFodi Images via Getty Images