Germany’s No.1 is already under pressure at international level from Marc-Andre ter Stegen and now his club have acquired a top young shot-stopper
Bayern Munich have agreed a deal to sign Schalke’s No.1, a sweeper-keeper who is as confident with his feet as he is with his hands.
That was true in June 2011 when the Bavarians poached Manuel Neuer and is true again in 2020, as the Bundesliga’s most successful side have once again convinced Germany’s best young goalkeeper to reject a new contract in Gelsenkirchen and move to Munich.
After months of transfer speculation, Bayern opened the transfer window by confirming the signing of Alexander Nubel, who will move to the Allianz Arena in July when his Schalke contract expires.
The 23-year-old shot-stopper has long been called ‘the next Neuer’, as their stories are similar, with both breaking through at Schalke by unseating a much more experienced player to become first-choice goalkeeper.
Neuer has long been known as the world’s best sweeper-keeper and his successor at Bayern shares this trait, having played as a striker for Paderborn’s academy team.
Nubel’s underage coach Marco Cirrincione admitted that it was just chance which led to Nubel becoming a goalkeeper.
Paderborn’s youth side were in need of a back-up goalkeeper and asked Nubel to deputise as he had shown some promise with his hands, despite being one of their most important attackers.
“In preparation for the under-13 season, one of our goalkeepers was surprised that there was so much training. He preferred to play table tennis and that’s why he stopped playing football,” Cirrincione told Goal and Spox.
Nubel shone between the sticks, but he was still needed in attack, so the team came to an agreement where he would play 75 per cent of games up front and the rest in goal.
“Nevertheless, he was the third-highest scorer in our team, with seven goals and six assists,” Cirrincione continued. “I remember clearly that he changed positions against Verl at 0-0 at half-time. We won 5-0 and Alex even scored two goals.”
This changed to a 50-50 split between playing in goal and as a forward at under-14 level, but soon the ‘striker-keeper’ was playing every game in goal, which brought him to the attention of Schalke.
At Schalke, he was initially third choice, behind Ralf Fahrmann and veteran Michael Gspurning, but by the end of the 2015-16 season, he was on the bench and came on as a late substitute in the last game of the campaign to make his Royal Blues debut at 19.
“He always stayed cool and didn’t go crazy,” Cirrincione said. “In the shadow of Fahrmann, he was able to see how professional football works and then took off himself.”
Nubel was happy to bide his time at Schalke, playing just one league game over the next two seasons. In 2018-19, he surpassed Fahrmann and became the undisputed starter and then was handed the captain’s armband ahead of this season.
At Bayern, he will go back to being an understudy, but Neuer might not be as quick to step aside as Fahrmann was. The four-time world goalkeeper of the year has refused to give up a single minute of playing time for Germany to help Marc-Andre ter Stegen gain international experience.
Neuer demands to start every game and has no intention of watching anyone from the bench, not even Ter Stegen, who is widely recognised as one of the best players in the world in his position.
Germany head coach Joachim Low is repeatedly asked about giving Ter Stegen opportunities, and hinted at more rotation in 2019.
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However, Neuer has proven undroppable in competitive matches, starting against both Netherlands and Northern Ireland in September, even after conceding four goals at home to the former.
Low’s decision to stick with Neuer despite promises of more minutes for his understudy has annoyed Ter Stegen, who sparked a public war of words over his reserve status.
“It’s not easy to find an explanation,” the Barcelona star told reporters. “This trip with the national team has been a tough blow for me.”
That caused Neuer to hit back at his goalkeeping rival, saying that Ter Stegen was not being a team player by sulking in the media about his lack of playing time.
“I think we’re a team and we should do all we can to be a team,” Neuer told Sky Germany. “I don’t know if that (Ter Stegen’s statement) helps us as a team.”
This spilled over into the Bayern Munich boardroom, where outgoing club president Uli Hoeness claimed he would stop his club’s players from joining the Germany squad if Neuer was dropped.
Hoeness’s replacement as president is Oliver Kahn, who was in the same situation as Neuer at Bayern in the early 2000s. The then-Germany No.1 was the experienced veteran while academy graduate Michael Rensing was seen as his long-term successor for both club and country.
Rensing made his Bundesliga debut at 19 in 2004, but Kahn’s longevity saw him play just 13 games over the next four seasons.
His mentor finally retired in 2008, but Rensing’s first season as first choice did not go as planned. He had not developed as the club hoped, having failed to gain experience due to a lack of playing time and four games into the 2009-10 season, he was dropped in favour of 35-year-old Hans-Jorg Butt.
“I have already experienced everything in football, but one thing is clear to me: there is nothing more for him at Bayern,” Kahn told AZ in 2009 after Rensing had lost his starting spot.
“There were efforts in the summer to get Manuel Neuer from Schalke, which shows they do not trust him.”
The following summer, Bayern signed Neuer and Rensing was allowed leave on a free transfer. He moved to Cologne and then to Bayer Leverkusen where he played just two league games.
He currently wears the No.1 shirt for Fortuna Dusseldorf, but only as a squad number, as he is just their third-choice goalkeeper. Despite the hype, he never played for Germany.
If Bayern want Nubel to be a success, they need him to develop by playing matches. The club have no intention of loaning him out, but Neuer also has no intention of warming the pine while a younger player warms their gloves.
Neuer’s statements following the announcement of Nubel’s arrival also back this up. Although he is 33, the World Cup winner is confident he can continue to be first choice for club and country for many years to come, calling Nubel one for “the future” rather than right now.
“I am an athlete and a professional. I always want to play,” he told reporters. “It is not my decision as a player, but that of the coach. It will always be like this.
“The signing is a decision by the club with regard to the next few years. He is a good goalkeeper. But we also have very good goalkeepers here.
“Sven Ulreich did a very good job when he replaced me. Alex Nubel is a very good goalkeeper for the future.
“I can’t put myself in [his situation]. But I was a player who always wanted to play, always wanted to be No.1.”
Neuer once said that Nubel can become Germany No.1 someday: “He needs the experience that he will definitely get, but he’s already developed really well.”
Now, the only thing that stands in the way of that is Neuer himself.