When Manuel Neuer broke his leg during a skiing accident on holiday after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Bayern Munich was in a bit of a scramble to find a replacement goalkeeper during the winter transfer window. One of their first courses of action was to ask Alexander Nübel if he’d have any interest in returning to his parent club, recalling him from his loan spell with AS Monaco, but, for a handful of reasons, he declined the offer as he felt Monaco was the place he needed to stay.
After all, Nübel knew full well that once Neuer was healthy again, he’d get bumped back down in the pecking order at Bayern, and didn’t necessarily want that to happen after all the progress he’s made and experience he’s gained serving as Monaco’s number one keeper. This is even something that Yann Sommer has accepted, even though he was signed from Borussia Monchengladbach and is currently serving as Bayern’s number one keeper, standing in during Neuer’s absence.
As far as when Nübel’s loan spell with Monaco ends, his future is unclear, but he has made it sound like he doesn’t really feel as if he has any sort of future with Bayern. Now, though, he’s been coming under a fair amount of criticism with recent performances at Monaco, who are currently fourth in the Ligue 1 standings, vying to keep a European qualification spot. Of the teams in the top 10 in the standings, Monaco have conceded the most goals of any of those clubs (42), and they’ve only won two of their last eight matches across all competitions.
After Monaco’s recent, narrow 4-3 victory over Strasbourg in the league, French outlet L’Equipe wrote that Nübel was “too indecisive on the line, hesitant when running out” and “imprecise with the foot” (via Transfermarkt). AS Monaco manager Philippe Clement had even been slightly critical of his goalkeeper. “I don’t think Alex has made incredible saves in the last couple of games. His position could have been better for Strasbourg’s second goal, but there’s also Maripán, who loses the duel,” specifically referring to one of the goal’s Monaco conceded to Strasbourg the other week.
Much like his spell towards the end of his tenure with Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, Clement highlighted the fact that Nübel hasn’t really been performing as well in recent weeks as he had been earlier on in the campaign. “The perception around him isn’t fair, it’s too negative. But he also had phases where he performed better than in the last few weeks. Now it’s up to him to prove he’s in the right shape for that finish,” he explained.
The current loan deal Monaco has with Bayern for the keeper also does not have a buy option attached to it, much like Joao Cancelo’s loan deal from Manchester City. In that same vein, Clement clarified that there is competition for Monaco’s number one keeper position, and that there’s no guarantees for Nübel in the future. It’s looking more and more likely that once Nübel is a Bayern player at the end of his Monaco loan spell, he’ll have to try to find a new club.