Schalke add Obasi to attacking arsenal
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Article summary
FC Schalke 04 have increased their attacking options with the signing of Chinedu Obasi on loan from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim until the end of the season, when the deal can be made permanent.
Article top media content
Article body
Chinedu Obasi has joined UEFA Europa League hopefuls FC Schalke 04 on loan until the end of the season from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Schalke will then have the option to buy the striker in the summer from their Bundesliga rivals. The 25-year-old will travel with his new team-mates to Qatar early in the new year for an eight-day training camp ahead of the Gelsenkirchen club's first fixture after the winter break, against VfB Stuttgart on 21 January.
"He's a quick and versatile attacking player," said Horst Heldt, Schalke's general manager. "He's also eligible for the Europa League with immediate effect."
Obasi joined Hoffenheim from Norwegian outfit FC Lyn Oslo in the summer of 2007 and scored 12 times in his first season as his new employers won promotion to the top flight. The Nigerian international struck a further 13 goals in the Bundesliga for Hoffenheim, none of which have come this season.
Schalke play FC Viktoria Plzeň in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, the first leg of which takes place on 16 February in Prague.
Elsewhere in Germany, bottom-of-the-table SC Freiburg have dismissed coach Marcus Sorg and replaced him with his assistant, Christian Streich. Sorg took charge in summer 2010 when he replaced Robin Dutt, who had left for Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
