Official | Schalke sign Éder Balanta on loan from Club Brugge | OneFootball

Schalke have announced the signing of Éder Balanta on loan from Club Brugge for the rest of the season. It is Schalke’s sixth signing of the window.

On his move to Gelsenkirchen Balanta said: “I’m very happy that the transfer has gone through now and can’t wait to get to know my teammates. We have a tough challenge ahead of us still and I will do everything to help us stay up.” Balanta played 112 times for Club Brugge during three and half year stay at the club. He scored seven times in the process. During his time in Belgium, the 29-year-old won the Belgian First Division three times.

Board member of sport Peter Knäbel said: “The signing of Éder will provide us with more flexibility, international experience and a physical presence, which will help our squad and give our coach more options,”

Coach Thomas Reis also added his view on the transfer: “We are gaining a very robust defensive midfielder who is good at winning challenges and is defined by his physicality. I’m convinced that his style of play will help ease the pressure on our defence and be of benefit to us.”

Schalke are currently 18th in the Bundesliga six points off of safety. For the majority of the season, they have been underwhelming and continue to look set to be relegated. With Reis, they are already on their second coach of the season after he replaced Frank Kramer.

Balanta adds to the signings of Mortiz Jenz, Tim Skarke, Michael Frey, Jere Uronen and Niklas Tauer.

GGFN | Jack Meenan