Socceroos goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak appears set to leave Borussia Dortmund in search of first-team soccer, with a deal to join fellow Bundesliga club VFB Stuttgart reportedly on the brink of being completed.
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Langerak has been on the periphery at the Westfalenstadion since joining Dortmund almost five years ago, making just 16 league appearences for the German giants and appearing in a further 11 cup matches.
He has spent virtually the whole time as the understudy to the immensely succesful Roman Weidenfeller, the veteran goalkeeper who has been with the club since 2002.
German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung is reporting that a fee worth €1.5 million (A$2.19 million) has been agreed between the two clubs and that the 26-year old is all set to move to the Baden-Württemberg club.
Should Langerak leave Dortmund, he'll be the second Australian out the door in as many months after young midfielder Mustafa Amini moved to Danish club Randers after a prolonged period in Dortmund's reserve team, which plays in the German third division.
While Langerak's desire to play more regularly at the elite level needs no explanation, arguably his bigger motivation will be keeping his spot in the national team.
Despite being earmarked as Mat Ryan's first-choice deputy on the road to Russia 2018, Langerak could find himself under pressure from the likes of faultless A-League pair Eugene Galekovic and Danny Vukovic.
The arrival of Swiss international Roman Burki, at the behest of new Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, had also thrown the Bundaberg-born keeper's position into doubt.
A move to Stuttgart would certainly see Langerak thrust into the firing line. The 2006-07 champions have experienced a dramatic fall from grace since those heady days, labouring into 14th this past season, finishing just a point above the relegation zone.
They conceded 60 goals in 34 games, the fourth-worst in the competition, yet still had their number one goalkeeper, Sven Ulreich, recently snatched by Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich.
Should the deal go ahead, Langerak will hope to get more gametime at the Mercedes-Benz Arena than fellow former Melbourne Victory star Marco Rojas, who has been repeatedly farmed out on loan since arriving in 2013 and is yet to play a senior game.
