Well, so far he is content to be at Basel. He always stated in his interviews that it was his biggest dream to become Basel's Nr.1 - and of course now he wants to enjoy it for a while.

AFAIK there is interest in him by various clubs (including Schalke and Dortmund recently), but Sommer is clever enough that he won't go to a club to sit on the bench.

Moreover, as his contract runs until 2015, Basel will ask a substantial transfer fee and GK is a position where few clubs want to pay a substantial fee (as weird as this is, considering that a GK is actually more crucial than a striker).

I'd love to see him at Schalke, I have to admit. If Schalke would sign him, he'd be the Nr.1 there right away, I'd say and he'd have a good shot at CL or at least EL football every season. In Dortmund he'd be only the Nr.2 behind Weidenfeller and that is nothing he should aspire to, IMO.

I see, That nice to see in a player.

I'd love to see him at Schalke too, they need a top GK since Neuer left.

What price range would he go for do you think?

Well, transfermarkt.de put him at 6 mio Euros, but Basel will certainly ask at least 12-15 mio Euros, considering the fact that they will likely lose Valentin Stocker and Aleksandar Dragovic this summer and they need some stability for their team even when always losing their top players. Moreover, Sommer guaranteed Basel good results practically all of the time, and he kept them in competitions ever so often by making big saves and even deciding penalty saves in the final minutes like against Molde and Zenit.

Well, a top class keeper will do that.

Petr Cech has done it for us time and time again. I am a firm believer in building a team from the defence and that starts with a good GK.

If any team loses some big name players they make sure they rebuild their defence before anything else. At least that way their team has a chance of winning every match.

*nod* Indeed. That's why I can only shake my head at the bigwigs of Schalke. Their policy in GK signings and contract extensions has made me shake my head ever since they lost Manuel Neuer to Bayern. ATM it seems they want to sign Düsseldorf's Fabian Giefer (who finally would be a good choice GK), but I really would prefer them to go for Yann Sommer. ^^

It's not like there is a shortage of decent GK's in the BL either.

Well, If Yann stays at Basel my respect for him will increase from what I have seen, heard and read, he seems top professional and top guy.

Kick wrote:Well, If Yann stays at Basel my respect for him will increase from what I have seen, heard and read, he seems top professional and top guy.

Indeed. From all interviews I saw and read Yann Sommer is a very down-to-earth and dedicated athlete.

Fun fact - his favourite means of transport within Basel is a Vespa. Quite a difference to the players who only drive the biggest and fastest sports cars XD

Who needs fancy Camo painted Bentley when you have a Vespa?

I can certainly understand your secret crush on him.

*giggle* Yeah, not only a top GK, but also good-looking and down-to-earth. And by the way, he speaks four languages, and he can cook, too! *sighs* What a guy!

Sounds like someone needs to plan a road trip to Switzerland.

It's ok, I'll be your wingman.

I wish I'd have the time or I'd have tried to get a ticket for the EL match on Thursday, I have to admit. But then, Basel vs Chelsea was sold-out in no-time anyway, so I have to try and catch it on TV. I hope that it will be broadcast on German TV again.

Edit: I just checked kabel1.de - Yay! Kabel1 will show it on TV, and they also offer a free stream at ran.de that should be viewable with a German proxy.

I was actually talking about 'bumping' into him outside of football.

LOL, naw, I prefer to admire him from afar

I will sadly not be able to this week. I am away so I will miss the match.

That's a pity. I hope for a cracking match with hopefully no injuries and a good ref team. Will you not be able to catch a stream somewhere? ^^

I will be camping out of Cell phone range....

Ah, the problem's of the geology student.

Aww, that's a pity. But I hope you'll find some interesting minerals on your trip

Basel vs Chelsea - David vs Goliath... The Kabel1 trailer clip:

http://www.kabeleins.ch/tv/europa-league/videos/basel-vs-chelsea-der-trailer-clip

Europe League - Semi Final, 1st leg:



FC Basel 1893 vs Chelsea FC
25 April 2013, 21:05 GMT+1 in Basel, St.Jakob Park

FC Basel: Sommer; Philipp Degen, Schär, Dragovic, Park; Frei; Salah (79. David Degen), Elneny (65. Zoua), Serey Die (61. Diaz), Stocker; Streller.



Chelsea FC: Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; David Luiz; Hazard (71. Mata), Ramires, Lampard (80. Oscar), Moses; Torres.



Goals:
12.) 1:0 - Moses (assist by Frank Lampard)
87.) 1:1 - Fabian Schär (PK)
90+4.) 2:1 - David Luiz


Several great saves, but one game deciding blunder

FT: FC Basel 1893 1:2 Chelsea FC

Europe League - Semi Final, 2nd leg:



Chelsea FC vs FC Basel 1893
2 May 2013, 21:05 GMT+1 in London, Stamford Bridge


Chelsea FC: Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Betrand; Lampard, David Luiz (82. Aké); Ramires (66. Oscar), Hazard (74. Mata), Moses; Torres.




FC Basel: Sommer; Steinhöfer, Sauro, Schär, Voser; Frei (75. Diaz); Salah, Elneny, Serey Die, Stocker (62. David Degen); Streller (62. Zoua).



Goals:
45+1.) 0:1 - Mohamed Salah (assist by Valentin Stocker)
49.) 1:1 - Torres
52.) 2:1 - Moses
58.) 3:1 - David Luiz (assist by Frank Lampard)

FT: Chelsea FC 3:1 FC Basel 1893 (5:2 on agg.)

So Basel bowed out of the Europe League in the semi final. Pity that! But next season they will hopefully be in the CL again.


Not a happy bunny today

There is always next year

They've done amazingly regardless.

Well, yeah. They didn't really expect to go so far as all opponents were financially far bigger heavyweights and so they were considering being the the semi final alone a huge success already. Now it is going for the domestic double at full speed.

Sunday's Swiss Super League match:

FC Sion vs FC Basel 1893

FC Sion: Vanins; Vanczak, Dingsdag, Adailton, Bühler; Gattuso (46. Kololli); Yoda (46. Itaperuna), Basha, Crettenand, Regazzoni (71. Lafferty); Ndjeng.

FC Basel: Sommer; Steinhöfer, Schär, Dragovic, Park; Frei; Salah, Serey Die (60. Elneny), Diaz, Stocker (74. Sauro); Streller (76. Bobadilla).

43.) 0:1 - Marcello Diaz (assist by Markus Steinhöfer)

FT - FC Sion 0:1 FC Basel 1893


Why always me?


Happy to get back to their winning ways

Wednesday's Swiss Super League match:

FC Zürich vs FC Basel 1893

FC Zürich: da Costa; Philippe Koch, Raphael Koch, Djimsiti, Benito; Kukuruzovic (62. Schönbächler), Gajic; Mariani, Gavranovic (62. Chikhaoui), Drmic; Chermiti (82. Pedro Henrique).



FC Basel: Sommer; Philipp Degen (58. Steinhöfer), Schär, Dragovic, Voser; Frei (71. Cabral); Zoua, Elneny, Diaz, Stocker (58. Salah); Streller.



08.) 0:1 - Valentin Stocker (assist by Marco Streller)
69.) 1:1 - Gajic (assist by Schönbächler)
87.) 2:1 - Schönbächler
90+3) 3:1 - Pedro Henrique

The third goal happened as Yann Sommer joined his colleagues in the Zürich box for a corner in hopes of an equalizer, but Zürich managed to run a turbo fast counter that ended up in the empty Basel goal.

FT - FC Zürich 3:1 FC Basel 1893

Well, Basel were lucky that the Grasshopper Club messed up even worse and lost 0:4 even, so they are still 3 points in the lead in the Super League.


3 goals against and still the best Basel player today

Sunday's Swiss Super League match:

FC Basel 1893 vs Servette FC

FC Basel: Sommer; Steinhöfer, Schär, Dragovic, Park; Frei; Salah, Elneny, Serey Die (74. Diaz), Stocker (83. David Degen); Bobadilla (73. Zoua).

Servette FC: Barroca; Rüfli, Mfuyi, Kusunga, Moubandje; Pasche, Kouassi (80. Pizzinat); de Azevedo, Eudi (66. Routis), Moutinho (46. Schneider); Karanovic.

32.) 0:1 - Valentin Stocker (assist by Mohamed Salah)
42.) 0:2 - Aleksandar Dragovich (assist by Valentin Stocker)

FT - FC Basel 1893 2:0 Servette FC

With the GC defeat, Basel now lead the Swiss Super League with 6 points.

Thursday's Swiss Super League match:

FC Basel 1893 vs Lausanne-Sport

FC Basel: Sommer; Steinhöfer, Schär, Dragovic, Voser; Fabian Frei; Salah, Elneny, Serey Die (69. Diaz), Stocker (75. Philipp Degen); Streller (80. Bobadilla).

Lausanne-Sport: Favre; Chakhsi, Meoli, Sonnerat, Sanogo, Facchinetti; Malonga (67. Kamber), Martin, Marazzi, Avanzini (22. Moussilou); Tafer.

24.) 0:1 - Fabian Frei (assist by Valentin Stocker)
60.) 0:2 - Fabian Frei (assist by Valentin Stocker)

FT - FC Basel 1893 2:0 Lausanne-Sport



Oh, and my favourite Swiss goalie made it into the top-11 of the Europe League 2012/13 as selected from ran (German TV, Kabel1):