Bayern Munich see 1.FC Köln’s Jonas Urbig as a young Marc-André ter Stegen as they lead the race for the goalkeeper

Bild reports that Bayern Munich sees Jonas Urbig as the hottest candidate to sign for the club in the summer as Manuel Neuer’s replacement.

The plan would be for Urbig to join Bayern in the summer and then use next season to develop and learn from Neuer as the club’s number two. Sven Ulreich will then be demoted to number three while Daniel Peretz will then be sent out on loan.

Director of Sport Max Eberl sees Köln’s Urbig in a similar vein to former Borussia Mönchengladbach and now Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. Back in 2011, Eberl insisted that Gladbach should trust a then 18-year-old ter Stegen in goal despite the club being in a relegation battle, they would reach the relegation playoff before beating Bochum 2-1 on aggregate. This decision then kickstarted ter Stegen’s career and resulted in a move to Barcelona in 2014. 

The increased interest in Urbig is due to doubts growing about Alexander Nübel. Despite the keeper performing well at VfB Stuttgart, Bayern do not see him as having the potential of being their number one.

Bayer Leverkusen are also said to have an interest in Urbig as a replacement for Lukas Hradecky, but are not as convinced about the 21 year old. So a move across the Rhein is a doubt at the moment. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan