MUNICH - Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is confused and
annoyed by details of his contract discussions leaking into the media
but retains hope both sides will be happy to agree a new deal.
The 34-year-old team captain, in a video interview with the Bild am
Sonntag paper which his agent Thomas Kroth also took part in,
rejected rumours about the length and worth of the contract he was
demanding.
"It is completely clear to me that it is utopian to push the club for
a five-year contract, as is supposed to be in the room," he said.
"At 34 I cannot see how I will be at 39. That's what makes this date,
as was openly suggested, no sense at all."
Kroth added: "I can clearly state that we, in the talks I led with
(Bayern sporting director) Hasan Salihamidzic and (board member)
Oliver Kahn, were always flexible about the duration." The reported
salary request of 20 million euros (21.7 million dollars) was also
"simply wrong."
Neuer joined Bayern from Schalke in 2011. The 2014 World Cup winner
has a contract with the Bundesliga champions to 2021.
He hopes a new agreement can be a win-win situation for himself and
the club.
"I want to deliver my performances, be there for the team and give
everything so we have the maximum success - with 100 per cent
passion," said Neuer. "Therefore the prerequisites have to be right,
that's what it's about now."
But that does not mean he is happy with details - even if incorrect -
emerging in the press.
"It was always important to me to be able to have trust in
cooperation with those in leading positions - as loyal as I, as
player and captain, behave with the club," he said. "If things now
taken outside public, that's also something which concerns the area
of 'appreciation'."
Neuer is not personally at the negotiations. "So I can't and do not
want to point the finger at a particular person," he said.
Kroth said there were only a few people at the negotiating table
though the information would be passed on through the club.
"For us it's not about putting someone up against the wall, rather
about the basics," he said.