SC Freiburg of Germany goalkeeper, Noah Atubolu could be on his way to maintaining the Nigerian tradition at Brighton & Hove Albion of England, as The Seagulls are reportedly in the hunt for his signature, Sports247 reports.
Brighton already have Super Falcons’ goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie in their women’s team, while the list of their past players includes the name of former Super Eagles’ defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun.
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Atubolu’s name is now likely to be added to that roll call, should Brighton prove true to speculation linking them with the in-form net-minder, who was born in Germany to Nigerian parents, but has been called up to the German national team.
A report by Sky Deutschland’s Florian Plettenberg reveals, “Brighton are eyeing SC Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, (although) the 23-year-old shot-stopper has a deal to 2027.
With Seagulls No1, Bart Verbruggen attracting interest from across Europe, Brighton are considering a replacement this summer and Atubolu is on their radar.”
Sports247 gathered further that Noah Atubolu, who was born on May 25th, 2002, grew up in Weingarten in the western part of Freiburg, where he initially played as a centre-back in the academies of Freiburger FC and SFE Freiburg.
He was first called up to Freiburg’s under-19 side during the 2017/18 season and was part of their squad that won the DFB-Pokal der Junioren, although he did not make an appearance in that competition.
In 2019, Atubolu captained Freiburg’s under-19 team for one season, after which he was promoted to Freiburg II and became their first-choice goalkeeper in the Regionalliga, then helped them win promotion to the 3. Liga.
He made his professional league debut during the 2021/22 season and was first called up to Germany’s under-16 team in 2018, but did not make an appearance in any match, then went to the 2019 U17 Euros as a backup goalkeeper.
At the end of 2021, Atubolu was called up to Germany’s under-21 national team and made his debut in a Euros qualifier against Latvia in March 2022, following which he became the squad’s starting goalkeeper at the 2023 U21s Euros.
Across three seasons – 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 – Atubolu saved penalties in five consecutive German Bundesliga matches, thereby setting a new record that surpassed four by Bernd Leno, Hans-Jörg Butt, Frank Rost and Thomas Zander
