World Cup winner Jerome Boateng feels that Bastian Schweinsteiger’s departure from Bayern München can influence his work. The defender is determined to “move up a level” now that the DFB Team captain has joined Manchester United. He told fcbayern.de that he has “reached the point where I want, and can accept, more responsibility.”
Boateng also added that it will be a bit strange not seeing Schweinsteiger so frequently. “When you play alongside someone for so long for the national team and Bayern it does feel a bit funny when he’s not there anymore,” he added. “Basti is a great player and a great bloke. He’s won virtually everything he can and played a huge part in that success. He certainly made his mark at Bayern in his time at the club. It’s important for us as a team to share out the responsibility he used to carry on his shoulders.”
Boateng certainly seems keen to pick up the mantle and believes that he has “matured both as a player and as a human being” whilst in Bavaria and says that he “feels at home here,” ahead of his fifth season with the record champions.
Boateng: "I’m still really hungry for success"
“For me, it’s all about not just staying at the top but also taking it up a level and improving for the benefit of the team,” explained Boateng. “We want to achieve targets together so everybody has to give their all,” he added, before describing his hunger for success as huge. “I never want to have to say: I could have done or achieved more in one particular year or another.”
“I got over the World Cup very quickly,” claimed Jerome Boateng. “I haven’t watched the games in Brazil again since then. Not at all. Perhaps I might do that in a couple of years when I’ve got time. I don’t think about being a World Cup winner. It’s more the case that other people keep reminding me.”