Mitch Langerak has been backed to make Stuttgart s number one spot his own, even though the Australia goalkeeper will miss his new club s Bundesliga opener on Sunday.
Langerak signed a three-year contract with Stuttgart in June, ending his five-year association with Borussia Dortmund, but the 26-year-old suffered a setback when he injured a muscle in his upper leg in July.
He will sit out Stuttgart s first match of the 2015-16 league season against Cologne, with fellow new signing Przemyslaw Tyton set to start in goal for Alexander Zorniger s side.
Poland s Tyton played 32 of 38 La Liga matches on loan at Elche from PSV last term.
But former Stuttgart captain Matthieu Delpierre – who now plays for Langerak s first professional club Melbourne Victory – reckons the Australian will eventually win the battle of the goalkeepers.
I think it s a good time [in his career] to play and I think in Stuttgart they want him as a number one, that s why I think it was a good move and a good time to do it, Delpierre told Omnisport.
Langerak left Dortmund with just 19 league appearances, as he was generally the second goalkeeper behind Roman Weidenfeller and, in a sign of how he is rated by Stuttgart, has been given the number one shirt.
But he earned himself an impressive reputation as a big-game player during his time at Signal Iduna Park, helping Dortmund to victory in the 2012 DFB-Pokal final and the 2014 DFL-Supercup.
Both those wins came against Bayern Munich, with Langerak holding a perfect record against the Bavarian giants – four wins from as many matches, including a 3-1 triumph in the 2010-11 Bundesliga season on his Dortmund debut.
I saw a few games from him and he was pretty good. He s a good goalkeeper definitely, said Delpierre, who played for Stuttgart from 2004 to 2012 and won the title with them in 2006-07.
The French defender added: Hopefully he can come back quickly and take [the gloves] but I think he s a good signing for Stuttgart.
