Eintracht Frankfurt want to sign the 24-year-old to add greater security between the posts, though what shape a deal might take remains unclear.
SC Freiburg appear open in principle to letting Atubolu leave for Frankfurt, as head coach Julian Schuster confirmed to Bild.
"Fundamentally, Frankfurt are a very, very big club in Germany," Schuster said. "So it could be an option for him to play in goal there."
The situation at Frankfurt is complicated by doubts over their existing options. Head coach Adi Hütter has significant reservations about both of his current goalkeepers, Kauã Santos, 23, and Michael Zetterer, 31, with neither viewed as a convincing long-term number one.
The problem for Frankfurt is that a replacement can only be pursued once one of the pair has been sold — and at the moment, it is Zetterer who looks the more likely departure, with Leeds United showing concrete interest.
Whether that deal actually happens remains in question. Atubolu would be available for a fee of around €15million, though the more probable scenario at this stage is that he extends his Freiburg contract through to 2028 and moves out on loan instead.
Until a decision is reached, Atubolu will have to remain patient.
"We're in constant dialogue, and we integrate him accordingly into training with us," Schuster said. "That's our job and our duty when someone is under contract. And he is. So we make sure we work him and train him, so that he's fundamentally at a new level."
Atubolu's stalled move follows a breakout campaign that brought him firmly onto the radar of clubs across Europe, with reported interest from Aston Villa among others earlier in the window.
A former Germany Under-21 international, he had been expected to leave Freiburg for a club with European ambitions after turning down a contract extension beyond 2027 in May, a decision driven by his advisers to reinforce his desire for a move.
For now, though, Frankfurt's goalkeeper situation remains unresolved, with Kauã Santos deputising in the club's DFB Pokal first-round tie against SC St. Tönis while the club waits to see whether Zetterer's exit — and by extension, any move for Atubolu — actually materialises before the transfer window closes.
Zetterer only arrived at Frankfurt from Werder Bremen last season in a deal worth around €6million but has struggled to establish himself as first-choice ahead of Santos. Should Leeds complete a move, Zetterer would serve as back-up to their new number one, James Trafford, who joined the Premier League club from Manchester City for a reported €47million this summer.
Santos, for his part, has endured a difficult pre-season, struggling in a heavy defeat during a friendly against Brentford, and reports suggest Frankfurt's hierarchy would be open to a loan or sale of the Brazilian if it helps resolve the wider goalkeeping picture.