Manuel Neuer will stay at FC Bayern for one more year, with the completion of his contract extension expected to be announced in the coming week. The 40-year-old may also leave the goal to Jonas Urbig, 22, for Bayern’s trip to Wolfsburg on Saturday at 18.30.
Bayern have already received a positive signal from Neuer, and the expected agreement would also give Urbig even more competitive matches. The 22-year-old has played 17 competitive matches so far this season, and the club does not expect the relationship between the two goalkeepers to change in the upcoming season.
That matters because Bayern have been planning for a shared goalkeeping arrangement while Neuer’s current contract runs down. The extension now appears to settle the club’s immediate future in goal, even if it does not end the question of how much of the workload Urbig will take on.
The wider picture at Bayern is less settled for Konrad Laimer. His contract runs until 2027, but the club would be prepared to enter his final contract year and risk losing him for no fee rather than agree to a significant salary increase. Laimer joined Bayern on a free transfer from Leipzig in 2023, which makes his case a different kind of calculation from Neuer’s.
For Bayern, the contrast is stark. Neuer’s extension points to continuity at one of the club’s most sensitive positions, while Urbig’s growing match load suggests the next phase is already under way. In 1999, Oliver Kahn called the Champions League final against Manchester United “Die Mutter aller Niederlagen”; more than two decades later, Bayern are trying to avoid anything resembling upheaval in goal by keeping one veteran and easing in the next one.