Jérôme Boateng before saying goodbye to FC Bayern: More than just a world champion

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Jérôme Boateng is about to say goodbye to FC Bayern

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Matthias Schrader / dpa

Eighty-eight, that would be the maximum.

Jérôme Boateng has played 83 Champions League games for FC Bayern so far, and in the best case scenario, five more would be added.

The first on Wednesday evening in the quarter-final first leg against Paris St. Germain (kick-off: 9 p.m., TV: Sky; live ticker SPIEGEL.de), the fifth in the final on May 29 in Istanbul.

It would be Boateng's very personal final after ten extremely successful, but sometimes changeable years in Munich, because that would be the end for Bayern.

According to a report by "kicker" and information from SPIEGEL, the club will definitely not extend the contract that expires in the summer.

As much as the decision had already been indicated in the past few weeks: The departure of the world champion and two-time triple winner does not cause unlimited enthusiasm for everyone involved.

Not with the player himself. And least of all with Hansi Flick.

Because with Boateng the coach of FC Bayern loses the next player he trusts.

The relationship between Boateng and the club has been a complicated and distant one over the past few years.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge urged the 76-time national player in 2016 with his famous "back to earth" demand to be more grounded, Uli Hoeneß even advised him to change clubs in 2019 "as a friend".

Boateng, who at that time skipped the championship celebration in detached alienation from the club, also flirted again and again with a farewell to Paris or to Juventus in Turin.

The negotiations were in some cases well advanced, but ultimately there was never a transfer.

Against this background, it seemed all the more remarkable that Boateng felt very comfortable again recently, convinced with strong performances on the pitch and would have liked to extend it with a late urge to settle down.

But now the club bosses no longer wanted.

And that's why Boateng has to go.

Flick's confidante

The fact that Boateng flourished again in Munich in the past year and a half was mainly due to the coach.

The two have known each other for almost twelve years, when Flick was already working as assistant coach under Joachim Löw at the DFB and Boateng made his debut with the national team in October 2009.

In the environment of the two you hear a lot of mutual appreciation, appreciation and respect, of a close trust that has built up over the years, culminating in the joint World Cup triumph in 2014 in Brazil.

An intimate relationship that has now continued at FC Bayern when Flick first came to Säbener Strasse as an assistant coach in the summer of 2019 and took over as head coach a few months later after Niko Kovac was kicked out.

As you can hear, Flick valued Boateng, who was internally very calm and sensitive, contrary to his public image;

he always knew how to look after him, how to encourage him, but also how to challenge him.

Flick knew what he got in Boateng.

And vice versa.

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Boateng, here in a duel with Stuttgart's Tanguy Coulibaly, is a regular under Flick and a top performer

Photo: ANDREAS GEBERT / AFP

When asked about the 32-year-old's upcoming farewell, Flick reacted rather tightly on Tuesday at the press conference before the game against Paris.

"I don't know if I have to comment on everything that is in the media," he said, considering the inopportune timing of the farewell reports so shortly before the important quarter-finals.

When asked whether he had a say in the decision, he said: “I don't want to say anything about it, and I don't know how it gets to the media either.

But everyone knows how I feel about Jérôme, what quality he is.

He played a very good season, last year too.

He is very focused on his job, that is a good basis for him to perform.

It's a good thing to have a player like that who is experienced and of quality. ”So it's not a good thing if you soon don't have a player like that anymore.

Flick would certainly have liked to see Boateng further in Munich.

At least with a contract for another year to get used to the young newcomer Dayot Upamecano (22) in Munich as a seasoned leader.

Or to slowly bring the talent Tanguy Nianzou (18), who was signed up in summer 2020, but long injured, to the starting line-up.

But this is how Boateng goes along with David Alaba, whom Flick also often raved about internally.

With Upamecano and Lucas Hernández, with Niklas Süle and Nianzou, Bayern are well positioned in terms of defensive headquarters next season, and right-back Benjamin Pavard said he would like to play more often in central defense on Tuesday.

The Bayern coach will have some alternatives for the defense center.

The only question is whether the FC Bayern coach will then be called Hansi Flick.

A squad with no flicks handwriting

Farewell to Boateng will not only decide whether Flick will also leave Bavaria in the summer, then to join the national team.

But it could be one of many pieces of the puzzle when making a decision.

When more and more of his liaison men get lost in the field.

If he loses more players than games, if he is less and less able to shape the future squad himself, that will not necessarily lead to a stronger bond with the club.

Although Flick has a contract until 2023, after the friction of the past few months, the keep with sports director Hasan Salihamidzic also seems to be holding.

But a commitment to train Bayern beyond the summer has not yet been heard from Flick.

The designated CEO Oliver Kahn also circled questions about Flick's future in Leipzig on Saturday when he said that the coach only wanted to “focus on the current season”.

And where is Boateng moving now?

Again and again he emphasized that after his time with Bayern he would be attracted to the USA, his self-declared favorite country, which he visits and travels over and over again.

However, Boateng still kicks too well to end his career in the MLS, which is not very attractive.

Possible that he will find a club in the Premier League.

And it is quite possible that Flick and Boateng will see each other more often from autumn onwards.

Then back to the national team.