Potential Neuer replacement Alexander Nubel dismisses Bayern Munich return

This felt like it was brewing behind the scenes, but today we have all but final confirmation — Alexander Nubel doesn’t want to come back to Bayern Munich. Speaking to Bild’s Tobias Altschaffl, the AS Monaco keeper (currently on loan from his parent club) said he expects Manuel Neuer to be fit again by next season, and therefore it doesn’t make sense for him to return.

The relevant parts of the interview were captured by @iMiaSanMia:

It appears that the season he spent on the bench for Neuer has deeply affected his thinking. “I realized here how important playing games is,” said Nubel. “I don’t want to do without that anymore.”

“Ultimately, AS Monaco has the last say,” he added. “I’m under contract here. They would first have to give the signal that they want to do it. I think that will be very difficult.”

On his meeting with Hasan Salihamidzic and Marco Neppe, Nubel said that “the contact is the same as before the meeting: it’s little, that hasn’t changed.” This goes back to reports that Bayern barely kept tabs on the 26-year-old during his loan.

Kicker meanwhile confirms that AS Monaco are unwilling to let Nubel go midseason as they would have to find a suitable replacement. Now if Monaco can’t replace Nubel on such short notice, it makes you wonder how Bayern will be able to replace a keeper of Neuer’s caliber. The Champions League fixture against PSG looms large, and the Bavarians have no recognized keeper (except Sven Ulreich) to man the sticks right now.

The next option will be Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer, whose contract is expiring soon. Bayern might be able to get him for cheap. However, Brazzo will be sweating at the moment — Neuer’s impromptu ski trip looks like it will cost Bayern dearly this season.