Arsenal’s Sead Kolašinac is returning to Schalke in the winter market, according to reports coming out of Germany.
The German side are currently sitting at the bottom of the league table and are still waiting for their first league win of this season after 13 matches.
Earlier today, Sky Deutschland explained Schalke have ‘succeeded in a transfer coup’ to help them ‘fight to stay up’ in the top flight division.
It’s claimed the Gunners defender’s contract with the Bundesliga side has ‘already been signed’ and the Bosnia and Herzegovina will return to his former club on loan until the end of the season.
Sky, however, aren’t clear as to what will happen between Mikel Arteta’s man and Schalke after this campaign. The official announcement of the loan deal is expected to be made on New Year’s Day.
They further add Schalke sporting director Jochen Schneider met the player three times in the summer, but couldn’t get the deal over the line.
The fullback is willing to let go large part of his €9m per season salary to re-join his former employer. Even with that, the cost of the deal remains too high for the club who are struggling financially.
In addition to the ‘hefty loan fee’, Schalke will have to pay a salary of around €2.4m during his time at the club. These figures are ‘too much’ for them, and the question is who will be funding the Kolašinac operation.
According to Bild, Schalke could take external help from their former supervisory board chief, Clemens Tönnies. However, a financial help from him could see protests from his opponents within the club.
There’s another catch, according to the report. Bild states, ‘Schalke received the vital Corona loan (35 million euros) through a state guarantee (31.5 million euros). The club is therefore under review by the auditing firm PWC, commissioned by NRW and Prime Minister Armin Laschet (59). A new Kolasinac loan would be subject to notification and threatens to be rejected.’
Kolašinac is in London with his suitcase packed, and is expected to travel to Germany either today or tomorrow. The loan transfer is likely to go ahead, but it’s not clear at this stage about how Schalke will finance the deal.
