They appear to have made amends.
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ABJ was interviewed on the SBS German Podcast. It’s in German, so perhaps not that useful for most, but @ddr_gdr might be interested in a listen.
SBS Language | Alexander Baumjohann: Deutscher Fußballprofi in Australien
He basically discusses football in Australia, his role as an import player (playing a bit of a mentoring role for the younger players) and equates the A-League to about the 2. Bundesliga level.
As much as I appreciate the guy has some talent, I won’t be sad to see the back of him. I don’t see us renewing his contract. He’s clearly not in Corica’s first team plans, and is only used as an impact player off the bench, and even then is rarely much of an impact. He may have a hot AF missus, but I feel like his enthusiasm just isn’t there.
Yeah, agree. I can see why Corica brought him in (wanting to play with two 10s) and while there have been some good moments, I don’t think he’s suited to playing in that system (seems to be better playing more central) - he’s admitted that in interviews as well. He’s also on a high wage (was never revealed as to whether that was marquee or within the cap).
He’s just too similar to Caceres to justify a foreign spot.
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ABJ rightly was ahead of Caceres in the pecking order for that spot (partly as a marquee) but AC has gone way past him. He would walk into ANY other side and be a guaranteed starter but for us he has to earn a spot - could rightly leave for guaranteed first team football. I’m hoping the plan is that AC and our Max rotate on the right and also gradually reduce His Majesty Ninko to prolong his career.
Nothing against ABJ but he’s very much a luxury player who simply hasn’t had the impact that he should’ve, bearing in mind he’s an import who’s probably on decent coin.
Kinda speaks volumes that he was brought to WSW with much fanfare and hope he’d become their equivalent of Tomas Broich or Milos Ninkovic, yet in a team like ours he’s largely a bench warmer.
His main value seems to be trolling the WSW fanbase mercilessly 
I wish him the best of luck should he return to Europe.
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ABJ gave us an incredible performance against Victory, endless WSW shitposting, and put a bloke on his arse once. I’d consider that good enough for some level of cult status
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FWIW, per-90 minutes Baumjohann ranks second in the league in assists (behind Tilio), first in ‘key passes’ and second in ‘big chances created’ (behind Noone).
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perhaps it is the shit stirring he does to WSW but I’d like him to stay in the league. Perhaps could do a good job up the road at CCM or in the Hunter?
I think he’d nail being in a traditional number 10 role, played more centrally. I could imagine him playing for another club and starting each and every game.
I reckon there is an outside chance he stays on a much smaller wage. He seems to like the lifestyle and never raises any issues. Can’t see him in Brisbane or Newy. Most likely is a return to Europe or staying with us for $150kpa I reckon.
Could see him being a bit of experience the Jets need or a fall-back option as a Davilla replacement for the Nux.
Unfortunately that 2nd sentence might be incompatible with the first. That harbourside, fancy threads lifestyle seems to involve forking out the kind of rent that a smaller wage won’t do.
That’s what your bayern money is for!
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Surely Mrs Baumjohann Insta influencer money is worth more than veteran A-League player money at this point anyway?
Yeah you’re probably right. I really don’t get how the modern world works. Or rather refuse to get.
Don’t worry. In my day marquee players lived in Darling Harbour and refused to drive a Hyundai. Confusing.
If you look at his career via e.g. Wikipedia, ABJ was a standout young player with fantastic ball skills that got him to play for a few really top clubs (apart from SFC!). But he seems to have never quite consolidated his potential and reputation into being a continuing starter apart from a couple of seasons (one of which with WSW). Could it be because he never had the sort of ticker and hunger to excel and contribute that Bundesliga clubs require (see eg Lahm, Muller and Schweinsteiger as exemplars)? Is what we are seeing just a fading version of his strengths plus clear evidence of his long-term weaknesses?
And for someone who claims to be an attacking no.10 (you know, I don’t like running back or defending), he scores bugger all goals across his career.
For comparison, Diego Castro played fewer seasons and in less glamorous clubs in La Liga BUT was a starter for 7 seasons and scored plenty of goals.
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