Club looking for a goalkeeper: An emergency helper from the Bundesliga arrives?

– After regular goalkeeper Christian Mathenia was out of season, the 1. FC Nürnberg is looking for a goalkeeper – and now he could find one on the bench of a Bundesliga club.

The serious injury to starting goalkeeper Christian Mathenia, who had to undergo shoulder surgery after tearing a tendon in the last group match against Paderborn (2-1) and risks being sidelined until the end of the season, has put the 1. FC Nürnberg under even more pressure when it comes to personnel planning. Sporting director Dieter Hecking promised members at the general meeting that they would look for a “suitable goalkeeper” on the transfer market.

The club could now find what it was looking for in the Bundesliga. As the “kicker” reports, Michael Esser is said to be a “top candidate” at the Valznerweiher. The 35-year-old is currently VfL Bochum’s number two behind Manuel Riemann and has made a total of 66 Bundesliga and 54 second division appearances for Bochum, Hannover 96 and SV Darmstadt 98.

Since the contract of the 1.98m giant expires in the summer, a loan would no longer be possible according to the statutes, so Esser should be committed for at least six months. It is debatable whether the Castrop-Rauxeler native would come to Nuremberg just to sit on the bench there.

Competition for Klaus and Reichert?

Because Mathenia’s former assistant Carl Klaus, who has only made two DFB Cup appearances and a brief league appearance in a year and a half, is likely to insist on his chance for probation as regular number two. With the U23 goalkeeper Jan Reichert, who was brought in from Schweinfurt in the summer of 2021, a talented young goalkeeper also got a professional contract in January.

According to Hecking Felix Dornebusch, who had already given the club a hand in the 2019/20 season, it’s not a problem after Mathenia and goalkeepers Andreas Lukse, Patric Klandt and Benedikt Willert are all injured. The 28-year-old, most recently under contract to Fortuna Sittard in the Netherlands and still without a squad, is having a trial in Austria with SCR Altach, coached by former German international Miroslav Klose.