Fast-rising Stuttgart to keep Bayern goalkeeper Alexander Nübel on loan for two more years

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Fast-rising Stuttgart is set to keep goalkeeper Alexander Nübel for its likely return to the Champions League next season after extending his loan move from

Bayern Munich

for another two seasons.

Nübel is already on loan at Stuttgart and has been crucial to the team's surprise run to third place in the

Bundesliga

this season with six games to play. Stuttgart hasn't played in the Champions League since the 2009-10 season.

“I'm happy to be part of this team and so I was quickly able to imagine staying past this summer with VfB (Stuttgart),” Nübel said in a statement.

Bayern said Friday that Nübel had extended his contract with the club through to 2029, even though the loan deal means he won't play for Bayern until at least 2026. That will be more than five years after his last game for the club that employs him.

The two agreements are further twists in the already complex career of the 27-year-old Nübel, who was seen as Bayern's long-term successor to Manuel Neuer when he

signed from Schalke in 2020

aged 23.

Nübel played just four times for Bayern in his first season and was then loaned out to Monaco for the next two years before being sent to Stuttgart this season.

When Neuer broke his leg skiing after the 2022 World Cup, Bayern opted against recalling Nübel and instead signed Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer as cover. Sommer left for Inter Milan last year and more recently, longtime reserve Sven Ulreich has filled in when Neuer is unavailable for Bayern, which also has Israel goalkeeper Daniel Peretz in its squad.

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