Markus Schubert’s future will be decided next week with the goalkeeper opting to stay in Germany.
After weeks of claims that Markus Schubert would join Arsenal on a free transfer, it looked as if the goalkeeper would actually sign for Schalke before his girlfriend posed in an Arsenal shirt causing all manner of confusion.
The Independent reported that, although an Arsenal deal wasn’t officially completed, Arsenal were close enough to finalising the signing of Markus Schubert that they were already speaking to various clubs about loaning him out next season.
The Gunners were reportedly in contact with Championship clubs and teams back in Germany about a temporary transfer for the incoming goalkeeper, so they must have been pretty confident.
Then, however, it was claimed Schubert would actually sign for Schalke (and be loaned to Stuttgart) which seemed to be a bit of a surprise to his girlfriend who probably knows more about what is going on that those reporting on it, me included:
#AFC | Markus Schubert's girlfriend…
It seems like the young German Goalkeeper has chosen us over Schalke! pic.twitter.com/trGjBaHpRt
— Chris Davison (@cdavison_afc) June 21, 2019
Dirk Schlarmann, a reporter for Sky Sports in Germany, then claimed nothing was decided in the race for Schubert’s signature. The 21-year-old goalkeeper is out of contract with Dynamo Dresden, and free to join any team that will pay his wages this summer.
According to Schlarmann, the links connecting the young German with Arsenal are wide of the mark. The SSN reporter claimed the Gunners aren’t even in the race for Schubert’s signature at this stage and Schalke lead the way.
#Schalke – im Netz glaubten viele #S04-Fans gestern einen Hinweis gefunden zu haben, dass #Schubert nach Arsenal geht (Foto seiner Freundin im Gunners-Trikot) – nach unseren Infos ist nichts entschieden, und Arsenal auch nicht in der Verlosung – #S04 weiter im Rennen. #SSNHD
— Dirk g. Schlarmann (@Sky_Dirk) June 22, 2019
Now, it is being reported that Schubert’s future will be decided next week and that the keeper wants to stay in Germany, making his move to Schalke more likely.
What is known is that Schubert is a free transfer because he’s out of contract although Arsenal will still have to pay €560k if it goes ahead.
Bild claim this is the amount of ‘training compensation’ Arsenal will have to fork out due to Schubert’s age (he’s 21).
The amount is calculated by multiplying the number of years he was with Dresden (eight) by €70k and it is expected to be paid ‘within four weeks of signing the contract’.
He is currently valued at around twice that amount so, while he wouldn’t be technically free, he would still represent a bargain.