Schalke's Goretzka signs contract to join Bayern next season

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have signed a contract with talented Germany international Leon Goretzka, who will join the club in July, his current side Schalke 04 said on Friday.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who won the Confederations Cup with Germany last year and is set to be part of their World Cup squad in June, is considered among the finest talents in Germany.

He is out of contract with Schalke at the end of the season and will be a free transfer.

"Leon Goretzka informed us at the start of this week that he wanted to leave the club and join Bayern," Schalke sports director Christian Heidel told reporters.

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Leon Goretzka FC Schalke 04 FC Bayern München

Image credit: Getty Images

Heidel said the player had passed a medical at Bayern on Thursday and Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had called to let Schalke know. He then signed a contract with Bayern.

"We are losing a very, very good player. He signed a contract at Bayern starting from July 1, 2018," Heidel said.

Heidel said the club had tried everything to keep the player, who has risen to become a team leader after joining as a teenager five years ago.

Bayern are 13 points clear at the top of the table and are on course for a record-extending sixth straight Bundesliga title. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)

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