Oliver Baumann: “I’m not done yet.”

Speaking in Hoffenheim’s SPIELFELD magazine, Oliver Baumann (32) discussed his remaining goals he wants to achieve before retirement, which won’t come any time soon.

“At the moment, I have not set myself any limits,” said Baumann. “Maybe I’ll still play when I’m 38 or 39 but maybe I’ll say I’ll sit on the bench for another two years at some point and teach the boys a few things and introduce them to them. But as of now, I’m far too ambitious to think about not playing anymore.

“I have my goals,” added Baumann. “I want to play internationally with Hoffenheim again and play an international match. So there is no concrete idea of a career end behind it. You can put it this way, I’m not done yet.”

Baumann has played in all 15 Bundesliga games for Hoffenheim this season, conceding 22 goals and keeping four clean sheets. Under André Breitenreiter, TSG find themselves down in 11th but are just seven points behind Borussia Dortmund, who occupy the UEFA Europa Conference League spot.

Since his €5.5m move from Freiburg in 2014, Baumann has played 310 games across all competitions, even representing the Sinsheim club in the Champions League. His performances also caught the eye of Hansi Flick, who called Baumann up to the national team in absence of Manuel Neuer.

Baumann had hoped to be called up to Flick’s 26-man squad for the World Cup but instead opted for Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona) and Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt) to provide competition for Neuer.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder