"I'm open to everything"

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Andreas Ulmer

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Bundesliga perennial favorite, Salzburg integration figure and even at 38 a glutton for punishment. Although Andreas Ulmer no longer has a playing future at his "favorite club", the Linzer wants to continue. He is "open" to all offers, explained Ulmer, who is rumored to be linked with Switzerland. It also remains to be seen what kind of farewell the club will give him after 15 years. "Appreciation would be nice, but it doesn't have to be a statue."

Ulmer currently has plenty of time to think about his next move, as a calf injury will keep him out of action until the end of the championship. The former ÖFB team player (32 games) can therefore no longer intervene in the tight title fight, after all, it is about his 14th domestic championship - he has long been the lone leader in this ranking. With a total of 420 Bundesliga games (3 for Vienna Austria, 22 for SV Ried, 395 for Salzburg), he is one of the top 26, which is an astronomical number in modern soccer anyway. He played 582 games for Salzburg, making him the undisputed club best.

Once virtually invulnerable, he will have missed 17 league games at the end of this season due to injury, missing almost the entire spring. However, Ulmer is not worried that age is now taking its toll. "I don't see it that way when I look at younger colleagues who have had more injuries," emphasized the full-back. "It's a normal torn muscle fiber that you often have." The fact that he played first fiddle for so long with Salzburg, who subscribe to the "youth style", is due not least to a conscious lifestyle. "At some point, I started to take advantage of all the opportunities for optimization and preventive work," Ulmer said. "But I can also have a pizza or a schnitzel from time to time."

Andreas Ulmer

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"No secret"
 "It's no secret that I would have liked to play another year or two in Salzburg," says Ulmer, whose undertone can always be interpreted as a slight disappointment at not having his contract extended. It remains to be seen whether he will return to the league giants after the end of his active career to gain a foothold in the coaching business. The wonderland of the Red Bull Academy would be the logical place to do so. "I've spent most of my footballing career here and have internalized the way soccer can be played."

Fans launch petition
The fans have certainly taken the father of two to their hearts. Some of them recently started a petition to stop Ulmer's number 17 being assigned in future. "It's a great thing that fans are thinking about it, a nice sign, an exclamation mark, I feel honored."

Ulmer about Rangnick
One person who influenced Ulmer during his years in Salzburg is Ralf Rangnick. For Ulmer, it is quite conceivable that the ÖFB team boss will opt for a job at Bayern Munich - even if Bayern does not currently stand for the style of play Rangnick is pushing. "The question is what he can achieve at Bayern. When he came to Salzburg, we didn't work the way he wanted to. He also showed with us that he can implement this superbly and has also brought it to the national team."