Highly-rated young German goalkeeper Markus Schubert has rejected the chance to join Arsenal and will instead sign for Schalke in the coming days.
The 21-year-old was a target of serious interest to Arsenal after the expiry of his contract with Bundesliga 2 side Dynamo Dresden. The Gunners had been confident of securing his signature but - as football.london reported last month - they were far from the only side hunting the German U21 international.
Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart were also tracking Schubert, who has ultimately opted for Schalke, where he will compete with Ralf Fahrmann and Alexander Nübel for a starting role.
Indeed Fahrmann has also been linked with a move to Norwich that could open up a starting role for Schubert at one of Germany's biggest clubs.
However football.london understands that the youngster prioritised finding a club where he had more immediate opportunities to play regular football. With Bernd Leno firmly established as Arsenal’s No.1 and Emiliano Martinez set to take on the role of understudy it could be a lengthy wait for any goalkeeper to establish himself in Unai Emery’s first-team.
Schubert’s preference was also to remain in Germany for the time being, though the Gunners are expected to continue monitoring the goalkeeper’s progress in the Bundesliga.
Former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat initially recommended Schubert to Arsenal and the club have kept a close eye on the ball-playing goalkeeper since he left in February.
Arsenal have made slow progress in the transfer market ahead of their return to pre-season training on Friday. Bids for Kieran Tierney and Wilfried Zaha have been rejected by Celtic and Crystal Palace, with the position of the latter club increasingly hardening after a £40m offer that represents just half of their minimum valuation for the Ivory Coast international.
