Bayern Munich sign goalkeeper Yann Sommer to make up for Manuel Neuer's absence

Europe 1 with AFP 7:46 p.m., January 19, 2023

After eight and a half years at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Yann Sommer has signed up for two and a half seasons with Bayern, where he will be number 1 in goal at least until the end of the season, notably with an eighth of Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain (go February 14, return March 8).

"I am proud to be part of Bayern now," Sommer said in a statement released mid-afternoon on Thursday after passing medical exams in Munich.

According to the German press, the amount of the transfer amounts to eight million euros, plus bonuses of more than one million euros.

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Neuer badly injured

Even before the formalization of his transfer, Sommer joined his new teammates in Bayern training at the start of the afternoon and should be lined up on Friday (8:30 p.m.) to face RB Leipzig for the resumption of the Bundesliga after two month of winter break.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Wednesday that it might take an experienced goalkeeper "15 minutes" to get used to a new club.

On his return from a disastrous World Cup in Qatar for the German selection (elimination in the 1st round), Manuel Neuer, captain of Mannschaft and Bayern, was seriously injured during a ski trip in the Alps, victim of a a fracture of the lower part of the right leg which will keep him away from the pitch at least until the end of the season.

The duration of Sommer's contract is not insignificant, since Bayern offered him a two-and-a-half-year lease until the summer of 2025, while Neuer's, in Munich since the summer of 2011, ends for the moment in the summer of 2024, after the Euro organized at home by Germany.