Schalke chief Jochen Schneider says the club will be “happy” to see goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann return to the club from Norwich City this summer.
The German joined Norwich on loan in the summer transfer window as they looked to add competition in their goalkeeping department.
It was assumed that Fährmann, who has 196 appearances in the Bundesliga to his name and has played for all of Germany’s youth groups, would be the number one at Carrow Road.
Instead, he has found himself behind Tim Krul in the pecking order, making just one, 22-minute cameo in the Premier League and only three appearances in total all season.
It’s a situation that neither he nor Schalke envisioned, with the chances of the move being turned into a permanent one close to zero at this point.
It seems, though, that when he does return to Germany, Schalke will be there waiting with open arms as they search for a replacement for Alex Nübel.
“Ralf is a great goalkeeper,” Schneider told Sport1.
“I can still remember how many wanted him to be the third goalkeeper at the World Cup in Russia. In the course of the 18/19 season, Alex Nübel overtook him.
“He then, unfortunately, decided to move to Norwich City, where the story hasn’t worked out as he wanted it to, as we wanted it to.
“But now he’s coming back and he’s still a great goalkeeper who embodies Schalke 04 like no other. Therefore we are happy that he will come back.”
