Manuel Peter Neuer (born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport. Neuer has been described as a "sweeper-keeper" because of his playing style and speed when rushing off his line to anticipate opponents, going out of the goalkeeper box. He was named the best goalkeeper of the decade from 2011 to 2020 by IFFHS.

Neuer started his career at Schalke 04 where he won the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Ligapokal. In 2011, he signed for Bayern Munich and has since won 28 trophies, including ten Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Champions League titles in 2013 and 2020, both as part of trebles. In 2014, Neuer finished third in the voting for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He was awarded the UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year and the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper five times each.

Neuer was selected as Germany's number one goalkeeper for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. During the group stages, he only conceded a single goal. He provided the assist for Miroslav Klose's opening goal against England as Germany won 4–1. Four years later, Neuer won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany as well as the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament.

Considered by some in the media to be the current best goalkeeper in the world, and one of the greatest goalkeepers both of his generation and of all time, Neuer is widely regarded as a "complete" and modern goalkeeper. He is regarded by some pundits to be the best goalkeeper of the modern era, with Peter Staunton of Goal.com labelling him as "the best goalkeeper since Yashin," who is currently the only goalkeeper ever to have won the Ballon d'Or.

A tall, large, athletic, and physically strong player, Neuer has earned critical acclaim from former players and pundits for his speed, stamina, composure, concentration, consistency, and mentality, as well as for being able to adapt to any given situation on the pitch. He is particularly known for his exceptional reflexes, shot-stopping abilities (with both his arms and legs), agility, speed, and footwork, as well as his handling, capacity to read the game, and ability to come out to collect crosses, which enables him to command his area effectively. When the situation demands, he will also often essentially fill the role of a sweeper when opposing players have beaten the offside trap or his team's defensive line by quickly rushing out of goal to anticipate opponents and clear the ball; his skill, speed and decision-making in this area enables his teams to maintain a high defensive line. Because of his unique playing style, Neuer has been described as a "sweeper-keeper", and has been credited with revolutionising the role of the goalkeeper in modern times. He has also been praised by pundits for his positioning between the posts, as well as his ability in one-on-one situations; furthermore, he is effective at stopping penalties, and has also been known to take and score them in shoot-outs.

A former outfield player in his youth, in addition to his goalkeeping ability, Neuer has also been praised for his excellent ball control and for his accurate distribution of the ball with both his hands and feet; his long throwing range and ability to kick the ball into deep areas with either foot enables him to play the ball out on the ground or create plays or launch swift counter-attacks from the back. Regarding his technical skills on the ball in comparison to other players in his role, Neuer has stated that he could play in the German third division as a centre-back if so desired. Due to his authoritative leadership and vocal presence in goal, he also excels at communicating with his defenders and organising his team's defensive line. In 2015, Gianluigi Buffon described Neuer as the best goalkeeper of his era in the air.

Despite the praise for his style of play and role in the development of the goalkeeper position in football, Neuer has also received criticism in the German media for his reflex-like objection to attacking moves in his box regardless of whether they violate rules or not. In particular, his tendency to instantaneously raise his arm to alert the referee has led to the creation of the German word Reklamierarm (roughly translated: arm of objection) in German media.

CLUB

Schalke 04
DFB-Pokal: 2010–11
DFB-Ligapokal: 2005

Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
DFB-Pokal: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
DFL-Supercup: 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
UEFA Champions League: 2012–13, 2019–20
UEFA Super Cup: 2013, 2020
FIFA Club World Cup: 2013, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

Germany U21
UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2009

Germany
FIFA World Cup: 2014; third place: 2010

INDIVIDUAL

Silbernes Lorbeerblatt:
2010, 2014

Fritz Walter Medal U19 Silver:
2005

kicker Goalkeeper of the Year:
2006–2007, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22

Footballer of the Year in Germany:
2011, 2014

Germany national team Player of the Year:
2020

ESM Team of the Season:
2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament:
2012

UEFA European Under-21 Championship All-time Dream Team

IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper:
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020

IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the Decade:
2011–2020

Best European Goalkeeper:
2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2020

IFFHS Men's World Team:
2020

FIFA FIFPro World 11:
2013, 2014 2015, 2016

UEFA Team of the Year:
2013, 2014, 2015, 2020

UEFA Champions League Final Fan's Man of the Match:
2013

UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season:
2013–14, 2015–16, 2019–20

UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season:
2019–20

The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper:
2020

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:
2010

FIFA World Cup Golden Glove:
2014

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:
2014

FIFA World Cup Dream Team:
2014

AIPS Athlete of the Year:
2014

AIPS Europe Athlete of the Year – Frank Taylor Trophy:
2014

Bundesliga Team of the Season:
2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2021–22

kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season:
2010–11, 2019–20, 2020–2021

Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Silver):
2020

IFFHS World Team of the Decade:
2011–2020

IFFHS UEFA Team of the Decade:
2011–2020

Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia:
2019

Bavarian Order of Merit:
2021