Arsenal: Markus Schubert the Dominic Solanke trajectory

Arsenal are reportedly in pole position to sign young goalkeeper Markus Schubert. The German could very easily have the same trajectory as what Dominic Solanke had at Liverpool, which is perfectly helpful for the Gunners.

Dominic Solanke came through the ranks at Chelsea. He arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2004 in the under-eights team. Always seen as a bright prospect, he developed in the Chelsea youth teams, making his first-team debut in October 2014 in the Champions League.

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But as he entered the senior ranks at Chelsea, his playing time decreased. Diego Costa was the entrenched starter and Solanke struggled to force his way into the first-team picture. As such, amid concerns of his development stagnating, Solanke chose to run down his contract, so much so that in 2017, it expired.

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At this point, Liverpool struck. Jurgen Klopp signed Solanke to a long-term contract, agreeing a £3 million settlement fee with Chelsea, and the striker made the trip north to Merseyside. Solanke was heralded as the future starting centre-forward at Anfield. Klopp did not hold back on his praise for his new young striking project. Within 18 months, he was sold.

Bournemouth, seemingly Liverpool’s dumping ground in the transfer market, completed a £19 million deal for Solanke in the last January transfer window. For Liverpool, they made a £16 million profit in 18 months minus wages. Not bad going whatsoever.

Now, I do not want to be overly cynical, but I would be very happy to listen to an argument that this was always Liverpool’s intention. I am sure that a part of Klopp believed that Solanke could, all things falling right, develop into an elite centre-forward. But I am equally sure that he was quite aware that if he didn’t, he would bank a pretty profit anyway.

This is not to bash Liverpool. It is smart business management, and they have illustrated this mastery of the transfer market for many years now. It is also something that Arsenal have failed to do, although that could be about to change.

According to the Independent, the Gunners are the leading candidates to sign young German goalkeeper Markus Schubert on a free transfer this summer. Schubert is one of the brightest goalkeeping prospects in Europe. He turned 21 this June and is expected to come to north London to learn under and potentially one day compete with Bernd Leno.

At the very worst, Arsenal sign a goalkeeper who is talented, has potential but flames out and can still probably be sold for £5 million just because he is so young. At the very best, they have the next Gianluigi Buffon and succeed Leno. What is likely is that they sign something in between, a little like Solanke. Someone who is talented, but not quite good enough for the first team but can nonetheless be sold for a pretty profit.

Schubert is a no-lose prospect. They are the kind of targets that Arsenal should be chasing, just like Solanke and Liverpool.