By Rune Gjerulff@runegjerulff

Reports: Höwedes nearing move to Russia

German World Cup winner Benedikt Höwedes is nearing a transfer to Russia according to media reports.
Benedikt Höwedes.
Benedikt Höwedes.Photo: DerHans04/Creative Commons/CC-by-SA 3.0
Schalke 04 defender Benedikt Höwedes, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, is close to a move to Russian champions Lokomotiv Moskva according to both Bild and Kicker.

Kicker reports that 'Die Königsblauen' will receive €5 million for Höwedes. The 30-year-old central defender, who spent last season on loan at Juventus, hasn't traveled with the rest of the Schalke squad to the club's training camp in Austria as the move is imminent.

At Lokomotiv, Höwedes will join former Schalke 04 star Jefferson Farfan as well as Erik Stoffelshaus - a former youth manager and team manager at Schalke 04 - who is now the Russian capital side's sporting director.

Höwedes came through Schalke's youth academy and made his debut for the club in 2007. Since then, he has made 335 appearances in total for the Gelsekirchen side.

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