Paris Saint-Germain have agreed a deal worth a reported £33m (€37m)to sign the Schalke defender Thilo Kehrer, with the Germany Under-21 international set for a medical before sealing a move to the Ligue 1 champions.
The 21-year-old made his Schalke debut in February 2016 before enjoying a proper breakthrough last season. The centre-back was also part of the Germany team which won the European Under-21 Championships last year and played 27 matches in the Bundesliga last season.
He leaves Schalke after six years, having joined the club’s academy from Stuttgart in 2012. Schalke’s sporting director, Christian Heidel, did reveal, however, that Kehrer had verbally agreed to extend his stay with Schalke before PSG submitted a significant offer for the defender.
“In the end we decided to go for the transfer on financial grounds,” Heidel said. “Particularly since the player’s contract is due to expire next year.”
“A few weeks ago we had actually agreed a contract extension with Thilo. If this offer from PSG were not to have come through, I’m sure he would have gone ahead with the extension, likewise if we had turned the offer down or in the unlikely event something was to stop this deal going ahead.”
PSG began their Ligue 1 title defence with a convincing 3-0 win over Caen at the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening. First-half goals from Neymar and Adrien Rabiot put the hosts in the driving seat before Timothy Weah – son of the Liberian president and PSG legend, George – capped the victory after seizing on a mistake by the goalkeeper, Brice Samba.
In Germany Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 to retain the German Super Cup. Kingsley Coman and Thiago Alcântara completed the rout, with Bayern getting revenge having lost 3-1 to Eintracht in last season’s German Cup final. Bayern begin their Bundesliga campaign against Hoffenheim on 24 August.
