Greece Under-21 defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos has left Olympiacos FC to sign a four-year contract with UEFA Champions League group stage hopefuls FC Schalke 04, who finished second in Germany last season.

Papadopoulos, 18, moves for an undisclosed fee. He made his Olympiacos debut as a 16-year-old before impressing with Greece at the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, prompting a number of top clubs to monitor his progress. Coach Felix Magath persuaded him to move to Gelsenkirchen, where he has become Schalke's eighth signing of the summer, joining fellow defensive newcomers Christoph Metzelder and Tim Hoogland.