Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel has confirmed the club are poised to trigger their right to make Yevhen Konoplyanka’s stay permanent.
The Ukraine international is currently on loan from Sevilla after joining Schalke at the start of the season on an initial season-long loan deal, although the Bundesliga outfit have the first right to sign him at the end of the season.
Konoplyanka has only started four games in the Bundesliga this season and be forced to make a further nine appearances from the bench, but Schalke will go ahead and sign him outright.
“Even though he did not make the squad today [on Thursday], you have to clearly say that we would like to and will keep him. We believe that Kono can be very, very important for us. Nobody at Schalke doubts his footballing qualities,” Get German Football quote Heidel as telling reporters.
Schalke have agreed a €12m (£10m) deal with Sevilla after Konoplyanka plays a certain amount of games, which the club say he will before the end of the season.
For more stats on Yevhen Konoplyanka, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
