Jerome Boateng has been granted early leave from Bayern Munich’s Club World Cup preparations in Qatar following the tragic news about his former girlfriend’s death.
Kasia Lenhardt, 25, was found dead at a luxury apartment thought to belong to Boateng in Berlin’s upmarket Charlottenborg neighbourhood on Tuesday night by police.
The couple had only split last week and Lenhardt killed herself on her son’s sixth birthday. Police say they are not treating her death as suspicious.
Her death was announced publicly this morning and that afternoon it was confirmed that Boateng would be returning to Germany.
Bayern are due to play Mexican club Tigres UANL in Thursday’s Club World Cup final but Boateng asked to leave the group for obvious and understandable personal reasons.
‘We were all really taken with it,’ Bayern boss Hansi Flick told a virtual news conference on Wednesday.
‘Jerome was in my room and asked me to go home. From the club side, we also fulfilled his wish.
‘After the corona test, which he also needs to enter Germany, he will travel home and will not be available to us until further notice.’
‘Jerome came to me and asked me to return home. After a negative (COVID-19) test he will return home and not be available until further notice.’
Boateng had started in their 2-0 semi-final victory over Al Ahly on Monday.
Speaking about Lenhardt’s death, a friend told MailOnline: ‘Yesterday was her son Noah’s birthday. Kasia was at home on her own. A member of her family called the police because they could not get hold of her and they were worried.
‘She died a week after Jerome gave an interview in which he said their relationship was over. He said some really nasty things about Kasia. She was very upset by it.’
Her death was confirmed by model friend Sara Kulka on Wednesday who paid tribute in a cryptic Instagram post that said: ‘I hope the truth comes out. I know how much you wished it would.’
Lenhardt had been dating 32-year-old Boateng for 15 months before their relationship imploded on February 2 amid a vicious fight that saw the couple use social media and the press to exchange blows.
Boateng had accused Lenhardt of sabotaging his relationship with ex-girlfriend Rebecca Silvera and his family before they started dating, and of blackmailing him into staying with her.
Meanwhile Lenhardt – who had the footballer’s name tattooed on her ribcage – branded her ex ‘the devil’ and vowed to ‘speak up’ and ‘fight back’ once she had recovered from the break-up.
Just hours before she was found dead, Lenhardt had posted to Instagram talking about a ‘new chapter’ in her life.
She was also mourned by model Lovelyn Enebechi, who had starred on TV show Germany’s Next Top Model where Kasia also rose to fame.
‘Rest in peace! You wonderful, great person, I miss you and I am incredibly sad,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘I would have loved to say goodbye to you and can not put into words how much I miss you, I will never forget you! I wish your family a lot of strength.
Boateng was the first to announce the split after Kasia wrote off his Mini in a crash in Berlin on January 5, with German media reporting that she was over the alcohol limit.
The 32-year-old said he was going to ‘take responsibility and act in the interests of [my] family’ while apologising ‘to everyone I’ve hurt especially with my ex-girlfriend and our children’.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, Boateng then accused Lenhardt of blackmailing him with fake accusations of domestic abuse, while saying she has a ‘massive’ problem with alcohol.
He admitted cheating on his ex Silvera with Lenhardt, but said she was also controlling and abusive.
He said: ‘Kasia became my girlfriend by breaking the relationship with my ex-girlfriend Rebecca and my family and blackmailing me.
‘So I decided to stick with Kasia and try to make it work. Even making the relationship with her public was due to pressure from Kasia to do so. It wasn’t mine.
‘During our relationship, Kasia often threatened to destroy me. She threatened to ruin my career and even try to make me lose my children.
‘Kasia said she would do so by accusing me of beating her. She knew that my children’s mother accused me of the same thing and that we have a lawsuit over it.
‘Kasia contacted my children’s mother and said she would help her in court. Everything just to destroy me.’
He even went so far as to claim that the model used fake social media profiles to attack him and ‘spread lies’.
‘I hope she gets help that she urgently needs,’ he added.
But Lenhardt hit back, saying she had in fact ended the relationship because of Boateng’s ‘lies and constant infidelity’.
In a final parting shot, Kasia branded Boateng ‘the devil’ and said: ‘I will definitely speak up, but I have to collect myself. Please give me time.
‘I will fight back! Because I’ve never been so deceived, used and lied to. Give me a moment.’
News of Lenhardt’s death was confirmed by fellow model Sara Kulka, who uploaded a photo of the pair on Instagram.
Alongside it, she wrote: ‘Rest in peace. You wonderful person, I miss you and would have loved to say goodbye.
‘I hope you find your peace now and I hope the truth comes out now, I know how much you wished it would.
‘I will never forget you, I don’t know anyone who could laugh like you. I send a lot of strength to the family.’
Kasia rose to prominence on TV show Germany’s Next Top Model where she appeared in 2012, placing fourth in the competition.
She leaves behind a son, Noah, who is thought to be five years old and was born to a previous partner that she split from three years ago.