Leeds United have seen an offer for Bayern Munich goalkeeper Alexander Nubel turned down, according to fresh reports from Germany.
Who is Alexander Nubel?
Nubel is a goalkeeper who first arrived at the Allianz Arena on a free transfer from FC Schalke back in 2020, but the following term, he completed a two-year loan switch to Monaco meaning that he’s only recently returned to his parent club in the Bundesliga, as per Transfermarkt.
During his time with Adi Hutter’s side, the 26-year-old started all 38 games in Ligue 1 and firmly established himself as their first-choice, a luxury he’s never been used with Thomas Tuchel’s outfit whose official number one and captain is Manuel Neuer, hence why the former moved elsewhere to receive more regular game time.
Bild recently reported that the German doesn’t see his long-term future at the club and has made it clear to them that he wants to leave, and it was stated that Stuttgart want to take him on loan whilst the Whites were more so looking to wrap up a permanent deal.
Sky Sports in his homeland soon after claimed that Bayern were set to make a final decision on his future by Monday, and if the following update is to be believed, Daniel Farke and the 49ers have already learned their fate as to whether they were successful in their pursuit.
Are Leeds signing Alexander Nubel?
According to Kicker (via Sport Witness), Leeds, and by extension new owners the 49ers Enterprises, “made an offer” for Nubel worth in excess of €10m (£8m) plus bonuses after learning that Stuttgart had failed in their opening attempt to land him.
Bayern’s shot-stopper is believed to hold a “negative attitude” towards the project in Yorkshire, with relegation to the Championship having not “helped them”, and therefore, doesn't want to make the move. The German giants are claimed to have since resumed discussions and have reached an agreement over a loan move with Stuttgart, therefore meaning that he won’t be going to Elland Road.
Is Leeds missing out on Alexander Nubel a blow for Farke?
Leeds might have to enter the market for a new goalkeeper this summer should Illan Meslier depart, which there’s a strong chance he will having admitted that he would be open to a move to Chelsea, and Nubel could have been the perfect replacement having been hailed “top class” by journalist Josh Bunting.
At Monaco, the 6 foot 3 colossus kept nine clean sheets from 38 Ligue 1 matches last season and he recorded a total of 140 saves from 195 shots on target against, giving him a success rate of 72.8%,via FBRef, a percentage that’s significantly higher than Meslier’s 59.5%, showing that he could have been an upgrade on Farke’s current number one.
Nubel, who has experience of playing in both the Champions League and Europa League, also has an extremely strong range of passing having completed 99.2% of his short dispatches and 97.5% of his medium dispatches so has an eye for picking passes to his outfield teammates, but this is a quality that the boss will have to do without after seeing his approach turned down.