Schalke: Ozan Kabak rises in transfer value, Alexander Nübel falls

FC Schalke 04 center back Ozan Kabak may be out with an injury, but that hasn’t stopped his transfer value from rising on the strength of his performances earlier in the Rückrunde.

In Ozan Kabak and Jean-Clair Todibo, FC Schalke 04 have unearthed two center backs who aren’t just two of the best young defenders in all of Europe, but they are already two of the best center backs in the Bundesliga.

While Todibo is busy leading the way alongside Matija Nastasic as he looks to convince the Royal Blues to activate the option-to-buy in his loan deal, Kabak is nursing a significant injury. Even so, the injury hasn’t stopped Kabak from becoming one of the Bundesliga’s biggest risers in transfer value.

Transfermarkt is the place to go for a rough estimate of a player’s value on the market, and Kabak is now worth a cool 32 million euros by their evaluation. That’s up 10 million euros from the last valuation point and more than double what the Royal Blues paid for him from VfB Stuttgart this summer.

Kabak has been absolutely incredible this season. He is wise beyond his years in defense, and even when the rest of the team is having an off game, he’s still a standout. Go watch the 5-0 loss to Bayern for an example of Kabak shining despite everything else around him crumbling.

In addition to his brilliant defending, Kabak is a scoring threat on set pieces and a tremendous passer of the ball. The Virgil van Dijk comparisons are indeed appropriate. 

Whereas Kabak is one of the Bundesliga’s biggest risers in transfer value, Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Nübel has taken a hit after some bafflingly poor performances in the Rückrunde.

Per Transfermarkt, Nübel is now worth just 12 million euros, as he’s lost four million euros in value by their estimations.

Since Nübel chose to leave Gelsenkirchen for Munich at the winter transfer window, Schalke fans won’t be upset at this drop in value. It’s honestly deserved, as only Manuel Akanji, Mario Götze, and Maximillian Eggestein have been more disappointing among the players listed above.

Markus Schubert is back in goal for the Royal Blues after Nübel’s errors, and it’s a welcome change for many fans. Not only has Schubert been better lately, but he also actually has a future at the club.

Of course, Nübel will bounce back in the future and has all the tools to be a world-class goalkeeper, so hopefully it works out for him at Bayern after he emerges from Manuel Neuer‘s shadow.