Uli Hoeness Threatens Germany Boycott If Manuel Neuer Loses No. 1 Spot

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has threatened to stop making the club's players available for the Germany national team if Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen supersedes Manuel Neuer as the No. 1 goalkeeper.

Neuer has 90 caps compared to Ter Stegen's 22 and has started each of Germany's last 10 fixtures.

However, the Barcelona stopper continues to make a fine case to be given more chances by Joachim Low as he is consistently impressive for his club:

Hoeness, though, has threatened to not make Bayern players available for Germany if Ter Stegen takes Neuer's place, per Sport Bild (h/t Rune Gjerulff of BuLiNews.com):

"We would never accept that. Before that happens, we will no longer provide players for the national team."

Germany general manager Oliver Bierhoff brushed off the threat, saying: "No [I'm not worried], because a club is obligated to release its players for international duty as per FIFA regulations."

If recent performances are anything to go by, Hoeness may yet have his bluff called.

Low has been loyal to Neuer for a long time, and when Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he was the best goalkeeper in the world.

That is no longer the case, and at Monday's The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019, it was Ter Stegen who came second to Liverpool's Alisson for The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper, with Neuer nowhere to be seen.

The truth is, at 33, Neuer is not the reliable presence he once was between the posts and has become increasingly prone to costly errors for Bayern:

Ter Stegen, meanwhile, is phenomenally consistent, and at 27, he has youth on his side.

As such, it is all but inevitable there will eventually come a time when the Barcelona man usurps Neuer for Germany, and it will be interesting to see if Hoeness tries to make good on his threat. 

Germany are back in action in October, when they face Argentina in a friendly and Estonia in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier.