German giants Bayern Munich have confirmed the signing of Alexander Nubel from Bundesliga rivals Schalke on a free transfer.
The 23-year-old is tipped to be the long-term successor to Bayern’s number one Manuel Neuer and will join the Bavarian club at the end of the 2019-20 season post his contract expiration at Schalke.
Nubel has agreed on a five-year contract at the Bundesliga champions, officially moving to the Allianz Arena on July 1.
Since his debut at the age of 19, Nubel has enjoyed a rapid rise at Schalke. Although he managed to make only a couple of first-team appearances in his initial three years at the club, during the 2018-19 season he was promoted as the premier keeper of the side, replacing long-term custodian Ralf Fahrmann between the posts.
At the beginning of the current season, new boss David Wagner appointed Nubel as club skipper at just 22 years of age with only 20 Bundesliga appearances – evidence of the high regard the youngster held at the club.
However, Schalke announced in December that the 22-year-old wouldn’t be renewing his contract after it expired at the end of the current season and hence stepped down from the captaincy.
Presently, Nubel is serving a four-match suspension following a horrendous foul on Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Mijat Gacinovic.
Leading soccer pundits of German football had warned Nubel away from the well-beaten track to Bayern, with the shot-stopper now facing huge competition to replace Germany international Manuel Neuer, who himself signed for Bayern from Schalke in 2011, from the starting XI.
Further, as per reports from the German press, Neuer himself isn’t overly pleased with the transfer primarily more so because of Neuer’s disappointing showing in the current season.
It is believed that Bayern has decided to rotate the two keepers from next season to ensure the youngster’s development doesn’t stagnate, but Neuer reportedly has no desire to step aside and will fight for his place.
This development of Bayern looking to replace Neuer may seem surprising to many, given their recent stance of Neuer’s place within the German national team.
The Bundesliga giants had threatened to withdraw their players from Joachim low’s squad if Neuer was dropped in favor of FC Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen, though Neuer recently dismissed any reports of a rift between the pair.
