FC Schalke 04 manager David Wagner has made his official decision, and it’s safe to say that he’s made the most prudent one.
Despite Manuel Neuer’s worries about losing any little amount of playing time to an up-and-coming German goalkeeper who also started out with FC Schalke 04, Alexander Nubel will officially pen a five-year contract with Bayern Munich and move to Bavaria for the 2020-2021 season.
But in the meantime, David Wagner had a difficult decision to make with regards to the starting goalkeeper position in Gelsenkirchen. Nubel is the latest player to leave Schalke for Bayern on a free, joining Leon Goretzka from the 2017-2018 season. Both were key players, both left for Bayern for free despite optimism they would stay, and Goretzka didn’t play as well in the second half of the season before leaving to Bayern.
Playing Nubel means developing him for Bayern. So if he’s not definitively a better option than the younger, equally talented Markus Schubert, then why do it?
It’s unclear if Wagner will bench Nubel, but his decision to remove the captaincy from the keeper is a step in that direction.
🗣️ #Wagner on #Nübel: "We have mutually agreed that Alex will step down from his role as captain."@Omarmascarell39 will take the armband.#s04 | 🔵⚪️ | #S04inSpain pic.twitter.com/MhAaK5w7GS
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) January 4, 2020
Omar Mascarell is a better leader anyway.
Nubel has every right to make the best decision for his career and owed Schalke nothing after playing out his contract. But it’s hard to keep someone as a captain when they want to leave to another club. What message would that send to players like Amine Harit, who recently signed an extension with Schalke?
Meanwhile, Mascarell is a wonderful player. He’s been one of the best holding midfielders in Europe this season and makes this Schalke team tick. His passing is crisp, his defensive work is elite, and he leads by example.
Harit, Bastian Oczipka, and a few others could have made sense as captains, but Mascarell is the right choice. He has what it takes to help lead the Royal Blues to a Champions League place and even threaten the likes of RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich for the 2019-2020 Bundesliga title.
Thank you Nubel for all you’ve done as captain, but it’s time to move on to someone who fits the ethos of the captaincy better. Nubel did a fine job and has a bright future ahead of him, but Schalke had to pick someone who is committed to the club beyond this season.