Loris Karius joins Schalke

Karius, who has been without a club since leaving Newcastle United last summer, moves to Schalke on a deal through to the end of 2024/25 to provide competition for Justin Heekeren.

The former Germany youth international, 31, has also represented Mainz, Liverpool - playing in in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League final under Jürgen Klopp - Beşiktaş and Union Berlin.

"After Ron-Thorben Hoffmann's loan to Eintracht Braunschweig, we didn't want to see a loss in quality in our goalkeeping team. We've done that with the signing of Loris. He's got years of experience at the top, is fit and can immediately join in with training," said director of first-team football, Youri Mulder.

"He's the challenger, with Justin as number one when we kick off the second half of the season in Braunschweig on Saturday," he continued.

Karius added, "I had very good discussions with the people at Schalke and am looking forward to training with the team. Schalke is a big club with passionate fans, as I've always felt when playing here.

The Royal Blues currently sit 13th in the second tier, eight points adrift of Hamburg in the relegation play-off spot and six clear of the drop zone.