ÖFB star Laimer about himself: “How can you be so stupid?”

In this case the question was what he was up against at the moment of his exclusion in the last World Cup test Tunisia in Vienna a week ago (1-0) or whether he knew right away that he would be at the start of the World Cup against Jordan would not be blocked. He didn’t know.

But Konrad Laimer knows a lot otherwise. Above all, he almost always knows what he says and does. That’s a quality that makes him a kind of favorite son-in-law or, in football, the perfect team player.

Konrad Laimer doesn’t think about himself. He thinks about the team. Even when you ask him about personal goals for the upcoming World Cup, he talks about his team. “That’s just the way I am as a guy. I always put myself at the service of the team and what I say, I mean it,” he says.

What would a successful World Cup be?

And Konrad Laimer wouldn’t be Konrad Laimer if he didn’t always classify sporting matters soberly. “If we perform the way we have in recent years (…), then I will be happy,” he said when asked what had to happen at the World Cup to make it a success. At events such as reaching a Eighth- or Quarterfinals he doesn’t want to be measured.

Great sayings are not his concern. Is it difficult that this World Cup is played once at 12 noon and next time at 9 p.m.? “It’s exactly the same for the opponent,” he says. Those who prefer would call it conformist or even bland Toni Polster or Marko Arnautovic listen.

And Laimer is actually a counterpart to these guys when it comes to football. Tactically disciplined and thoroughly trained in one of the Austrian football academies. He would never step out of line on the football field and perhaps even jeopardize the team’s success.

Who you can’t replace

He would rather talk about others than about himself. About unlucky person Christoph Baumgartnerwho will miss the World Cup, says Laimer: “You can’t replace Baumi, we will miss him throughout the tournament.”

It would certainly be the same if Konrad Laimer himself were to be absent. He who likes to run more than others and did so last season. He played 55 games, the most of any Austrian. But he doesn’t have any of it in his bones. “It’s completely forgotten because the anticipation is so great. We’re fit, we’re having fun, I could have played 97 games and would feel just as fresh.”

This one too The mindset makes Laimer a trainer’s favorite. A special gift is associated with him: Sacrifice. And that’s also why it has become expensive.

What he wants to earn

His contract with Bayern runs until summer 2027. There is currently a game of poker. Laimer’s salary is currently a rumored 6.6 million euros annually, and we hear from 8 to 9 that they would like to pay him in the future. But at least since Bayern have had a central defender Dayot Upamecano extended and increased the Frenchman’s annual salary to 20 million, he also wants more money.

The same applies here: He knows what he is doing and knows his worth. And while he is preparing for the World Cup in Santa Barbara, his advisor is in Europe negotiating. Will an agreement be reached before the start of the World Cup so that the topic is no longer buzzing through his head? “If something comes along now that’s right, then it could be before the World Cup. If not, I’ll be completely relaxed.”

relaxation is a kind of permanent situation for Austria’s Footballer of the Year 2025 at the moment. All the more so after a successful season like the one he just had media appointments also seems particularly relaxed. It’s easier if you have one Double wins and then goes to the interviews, says Laimer and promises: “If we now World champion “And then I’ll be in the media circle with you, I’ll be relaxed too.”