Bundesliga News

Exit deals stalled, Schalke order Harit and Kabak into training

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

Schalke's coaching staff and management have ordered likely-to-depart players Ozan Kabak and Amine Harit into training despite the fact that the club is working on transfers.

According to Germany's main sporting tabloid, the recently promoted Königsblauen recently rejected OGC Nice's offer for Kabak.
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Newly protmed FC Schalke 04 have managed to shed some of their unwanted loan returnees this week. Twenty-four-year-old left-back Hamza Mendyl (retuning from Turkish side Gaziantep FK) was shipped out to OH Leuven in Belgium. Twenty-one-year-old central midfielder Levent Mercan signed a permanent deal with loan club Karagümrük in the Turkish Super League. Both players were sold for undisclosed amounts.


S04 sporting director Rouven Schröder nevertheless still has much work to do in getting disaffected, non-essential, and potentially lucrative loan returnees off his roster. Welsh attacker Rabbi Matondo remains a sellable asset. Negotiations continue in the effort to get Germany U20 international Can Bozdogan over to Besiktas on a permanent deal.

Both Bozdogan and Matondo have reported to Schalke training camp in the meantime. In an article published today in Germany's Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ), manager Schröder praised both players for their professionalism in this regard.

"[Head-Coach] Frank Kramer and I had frank discussions with them," Schröder noted, "We said that we have an established team and that they should integrate, not harboring a different attitude because of the personnel situation. They are doing well. We are very, very pleased. Rabbi and Can also did very well in their first [test fixture] runs."

With respect to two more loanees who very likely have no future in a squad with regular starters at their positions, a different approach has been taken. High-value assets Amine Harit (€10 million valued, returning from Olympique Marseille) and Ozan Kabak (€10 million valued, returning from Norwich City) have not partaken in training camp yet while negotiations continue.

"Despite concrete talks, they now have to get going," Schröder is quoted as saying in the WAZ, "We integrated Rabbi and Can, that went smoothly. It will be the same with the two."


The latest on Kabak's potential transfer to OGC Nice, according to Germany's Sport Bild, holds that Schalke have rejected a €6 million offer from the Ligue 1 side for the Turkish international's services. Marseille have evidently declined to exercise an optional purchase clause (reportedly there was also an obligatory one not met) on Harit. The Moroccan's next destination remains unclear.


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