Manuel Neuer is off his crutches, walking gingerly. There is no date for when Bayern Munich will have their captain back in action, but the hope is that his condition, after breaking a leg while skiing in December, might improve in parallel with better health on the field at his club.
Neuer is one of the few senior Bayern players who can still remember what it is like to finish a season without lifting the Bundesliga shield.
They were second in his first year at the club, 2011/12 but never as low again. A decade of domestic supremacy would endorse Neuer’s status as club icon.
His poor judgment in deciding to spend a day on skis in the post-World Cup break, and his subsequent criticisms of the Bayern hierarchy, have damaged the goalkeeper’s standing.