Neuer (Ultimate Football Heroes)--Collect Them All! by Matt Oldfield

Author:Matt Oldfield [Matt and Tom Oldfield]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786069160
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

BIG CLUB INTEREST

In the summer of 2008, Oliver Kahn decided to retire, after fourteen amazing years at Bayern Munich. It was sad to say goodbye to such a club legend, but Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had to look ahead to the future for successors of Kahn’s calibre. Was Bayern’s Number Two, Michael Rensing, good enough to move up to the Number One shirt? Or should Bayern look elsewhere?

In the end, Rummenigge chose both options. Rensing got the chance to prove himself during the 2008–09 season, and at the same time, Bayern also scouted out other world-class options. As the top club in the country, they preferred to sign German goalkeepers. So, who was going to become ‘the next Oliver Kahn’? The top three candidates were René Adler at Bayer Leverkusen, Robert Enke at Hannover 96, and the favourite, Manuel Neuer at Schalke.

‘He’s young, he’s brilliant, and he’s only going to get better,’ was how the scouts described Manuel to Rummenigge.

Rummenigge didn’t need much persuading. Manuel was his first-choice signing, but would he ever leave Schalke to join Bayern? That was the big question because there was a fierce rivalry between the two clubs. In the summer of 2009, Rummenigge started the transfer talk.

‘We want Manuel Neuer,’ he told the media, ‘and I believe that he is interested in coming to Bayern.’

But the new Schalke manager, Felix Magath, rejected that idea. ‘I have Germany’s best goalkeeper and he’s not going anywhere,’ he replied.

Rummenigge wasn’t giving up that easily. It might take a while, but he was determined to sign Manuel. He had found the right man to become Bayern’s new Number One. After the Under-21 Championships in Sweden, he tried again but the answer was the same – Manuel wasn’t for sale, and especially not to Bayern.

‘We’ll keep trying,’ Rummenigge said stubbornly.

Bayern weren’t the only big club who needed a new goalkeeper, however. Edwin van der Sar, another of Manuel’s childhood heroes, was coming to the end of his amazing career at Manchester United. Apparently, Manuel was at the top of Sir Alex Ferguson’s shopping list.

‘Wow, Bayern Munich or Manchester United?’ Marcel asked his brother. ‘That’s a hard choice, but it’s a nice choice to have!’

Manuel tried to ignore all the big club interest and focus on the new season ahead. He was determined to help his hometown club to win their first Bundesliga title since 1958. How amazing would that be!

But without any top European football to play, Manuel couldn’t help thinking about his future. Would he ever win the big trophies at Schalke? When he watched the Champions League on TV, he felt jealous of all the goalkeepers. ‘That should be me!’ he thought to himself. Perhaps he would need to move on to reach that next level.

‘Just see how you feel next summer,’ Toni, his goalkeeping coach, told him. For now, Manuel was a proud Schalke player.

On Manuel’s twenty-fourth birthday, in 2010, the team played away at Bayer Leverkusen. Manuel didn’t have that much to do but what he did do, he did as brilliantly as ever.

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