Which club will Ko Itakura play for next season? The interest in the Japanese is increasing – the probability that Schalke can keep him is decreasing.
This is not news that FC Schalke fans like to read: “Staying at Schalke is very, very uncertain,” he said Sky-Expert Florian Plettenberg on Monday evening in ‘Transfer-Update’ about the situation at Ko Itakura, who has so far only been active on loan at Royal Blue.
Although S04 has a purchase option for Itakura, the transfer fee due at 5.5 million euros is in an area that FC Schalke currently cannot or does not want to handle. Also branded because of the recent past, Peter Knäbel, Rouven Schröder and Co. have always emphasized that they only want to do business seriously and conscientiously and do not want to make any transfers that are outside the available budget.
In concrete terms, this means: Schalke first needs transfer income before you can think about a permanent commitment from Itakura. However, there are currently no expensive sales in sight – such as the loans Ozan Kabak or Amine Harit – which is why Itakura is not making any progress either. In addition, Schalke have to ask themselves whether they really want to put the majority of their financial resources in a single player.
The problem that comes with the Royal Blues’ hesitation is that other clubs are also getting involved with the Japanese. According to Sky– There are already many inquiries for Itakura, including three interested parties from the Bundesliga. On the other hand, S04 cannot hope for an increased loan: Manchester City, Itakura’s parent club, would like to sell the defensive artist and make money.
Schröder and Co. don’t have much time to think: the purchase option expires on May 31. “A decision must and will be made by next Tuesday. At the moment, based on the trend, I would say that it will be rather difficult for Schalke,” added the assessment of Sky-Reporter Dirk big Schlarmann.
