Ahead of reunion with Bayern, Hoeneß and Wehrle back Nübel for national team
Club boss Alexander Wehrle weighed in on the matter as well in a print interview earlier this week.
| Photo: VfB Stuttgart |
After a long and troubled history with FC Bayern München, it continues to appear as if German goal-keeping talent Alexander Nübel won't be getting a chance to stand in goal with the German record champions. The 27-year-old's current loan-deal with VfB Stuttgart expires at the end of the current season. A reported €7 million purchase clause renders it doubtful that the Swabians will sign him permanently.
Nübel himself will nevertheless have little interest in returning to the mighty Bavarians after both Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich were signed to contract extensions a few short weeks back. After quietly putting together a stellar season for the surprise Württemberg side, one of Nübel's takers might even be Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann.
Once considered the natural successor to German footballing legend Manuel Neuer, Nübel has found himself unable to follow in his idol's footsteps since joining Bayern from the same club Neuer did (FC Schalke 04) ahead of the 2020/21 campaign. Nübel still hasn't made a senior men's international team appearance. The likes of Marvin Schwäbe, Janis Blaswich, and Oliver Baumann are mentioned ahead of him in German footballing circles.
Speaking at a Friday presser, Stuttgart head-coach Sebastian Hoeneß made certain to emphasize that such a situation will soon change. VfB sporting CEO Alexander Wehrle made similar comments when conducting an interview the Münchner Merkur/tz newspaper earlier this week. Nübel is among three Stuttgart players (Angelo Stiller, Woo-Yeong Jeong being the others) preparing to face their former club on Sunday.
Hoeneß himself coached both Stiller and Jeong whilst in charge of the FC Bayern reserves. While taking special care to note that that no one had any particular axes to grind against the FCB, Hoeneß dropped hints that the team in general wanted to take advantage of the German giants in the same manner that Eintracht Frankfurt did last week. Current German #1 Neuer showcased his fair share of weaknesses in the rout.
"Nübel has absolute justification to think about the national team," Hoeneß said in the presser, "I hope he will find his way there because I've gotten to know him and experienced how he can characterize a game. He has a great personality. If he stays healthy, he has a good chance of making it at some point."
"Nübel will be indispensable to the German national team in the long-run," Wehrle added in the interview, "Alex has been very well received here from day one, but has also been integrated because of the way he's performed. He immediately put in a strong performance and is clearly a factor in our upswing."
