Three more suitors for Schalke’s Man City loanee emerge

The Manchester Evening News and Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany report that Eintracht Frankfurt, SC Freiburg, and Celtic Glasgow are also interested in procuring Schalke loanee Ko Itakura. 

As FC Schalke 04 continue work on potentially keeping Man City defensive midfield talent Ko Itakura, German and English media sources currently report that other clubs are also attempting to make a swoop for the Japanese international. Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg list Eintracht Frankfurt as an interested party. The Manchester Evening news claims that SC Freiburg and Celtic are also interested.

According to Plettenberg, the Königsblauen are trying everything feasible before a May 31st deadline will force them to forfeit any rights to the player. It would make perfect sense that clubs with better financial resources are preparing to step in should the Westphalians fail to get a deal done.

The latest news with regard to Schalke itself, as reported by the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, is that that negotiating personal terms with the 25-year-old have proven very difficult. The NRW newspaper notes that that the newly promoted side wishes to go all-in, but is rapidly running out of time.

News #Itakura: Frankfurt hat ein Auge auf Itakura geworfen. Es heißt, er sei ein „spannender“ Spieler. Mainz 05 sucht IV mit ähnlichem Profil. S04 will all-in gehen, muss aber unbedingt verkaufen: Kabak, Harit, Matondo und/oder Bozdogan sollen 💶 bringen. @SkySportDE @Sky_Dirk 🇯🇵

— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) May 26, 2022

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