If you had told Bayern Munich fans a year ago that Jerome Boateng was in danger of being pushed out of the Allianz Arena exit, you wouldn’t have heard many complains.
At the time, an ageing an increasingly injury-prone centre-half was struggling for form and fitness as the house that Niko Kovac built collapsed around him.
A 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt in November 2019, a game in which Boateng was sent off after just nine minutes, had a very ‘end of days’ feel to it. Not just for Kovac, who would be sacked shortly after full-time, but for the World Cup winning defender too.
Flash forward a year, however, and Boateng has come to epitomise Bayern’s Hansi Flick-led renaissance. He is, in short, a man reborn.
The 33-year-old has been largely back to his brilliant best since Flick, the perennial bridesmaid, was finally handed the job his expertise and tactical acumen deserved by the Bavarian giants.
You could certainly argue that Boateng has played his best football since the Pep Guardiola era; the battle-scarred lynchpin at the heart of a treble-winning Bayern side.
Considering that David Alaba’s future remains up in the air, and with Niklas Sule suffering from a few injury problems in recent months, Bayern’s decision to let Boateng leave when his contract expires at the end of the season seems an odd one.
BILD claims that, although the eight-time Bundesliga champion has no desire to leave, that decision has already been taken out of his hands.
Suggestions that Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur are positioning themselves to lure the ex-Manchester City defender back to England is enough of an indication that there is plenty of life left in this wily old dog.
You would also think his vast experience would come in handy during an era of transition at an increasingly youthful Bayern side. But it seems those who really matter, at the top of the FC Hollywood tree, see things a little differently.
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