Bayern want a veteran No. 2 after Neuer, and that job would stall Baumann's record chase

Bayern Munich are already planning for life after Manuel Neuer, and the outline is clear. According to Sky Germany, the chance that the 40-year-old retires when his contract runs out this summer is 99.9 percent, Jonas Urbig is meant to take over as the No. 1, and the club is looking for an experienced goalkeeper to sit behind him. The name at the top of that list is Hoffenheim's Oliver Baumann, which creates an awkward problem for one of the longest careers in Bundesliga history.

Neuer has not announced anything, and Sky reports that he wants to finish the season rather than stop early. But Abendzeitung's Maximilian Koch reported that Bayern expect him to retire and that farewell interviews with the captain are already being planned.

The timing is not a coincidence. Neuer suffered a partial tendon tear in his right foot in the 2-1 win at Mainz on Nov. 7 and is expected to be out until the new year, with Urbig in goal and Sven Ulreich as the backup. Sporting director Max Eberl was asked whether that means Urbig becomes the No. 1 for good. His answer was one word: "No." The plan is for Neuer to return to the starting job when he is fit.

Sky named three candidates for the backup role: Baumann, Fulham's Bernd Leno and Schalke's Loris Karius. No concrete talks have taken place with any of them or their clubs.

Baumann, 36, is the favorite and fits the profile Bayern want, according to the report. His Hoffenheim contract runs to 2028, so Bayern would have to agree a fee. Leno, 34, is open to a return to the Bundesliga and could even see himself as Urbig's No. 2; his Fulham deal expires in 2027, though the Premier League club holds an option to extend it. Karius' contract with Schalke also runs to 2028, and Spanish outlet AS reported that his availability may depend on whether Schalke win promotion.

Charly Körbel has held the Bundesliga appearance record since 1990. He played 602 league games, all for Eintracht Frankfurt, between 1972 and 1991. Baumann is ninth on the all-time list with 532, 401 of them for Hoffenheim and 131 for Freiburg, so he needs 71 more to own the record outright.

At a normal starter's pace, that is a little more than two full seasons. As Urbig's backup, it could stop almost completely, because a second-choice goalkeeper at Bayern rarely plays in the league. That is the trade-off Baumann would be weighing: a late move to a club that wins trophies, or a run at a number nobody has reached in the 35 years since Körbel retired.

Neuer has a smaller chase of his own. He is fifth on the same list with 550 games, two behind Klaus Fichtel and seven behind Oliver Kahn's 557. If his foot lets him return in January for one final half-season, passing Kahn, Bayern's previous long-serving captain in goal, would be a fitting last line on his career.