Matip to Liverpool Rumours “a Hoax” Says Schalke Boss

With the January transfer window winding down, more than a few clubs will be engaged in a mad scramble to get a player or two in over the next few days. Liverpool will almost certainly be one of those busy clubs given their ongoing efforts to bring in Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Alex Teixeira.

For at least a few hours yesterday, though, it looked as though they were pushing to get deals done on multiple fronts following reports out of Germany that they had made a late push to get Schalke to let Joel Matip go early. Until then, it had begun to look as though the club would wait to sign Matip in the summer.

However, Sky Germany claimed that with Schalke resigned to losing him one way or another, Liverpool had launched a late effort to bring Matip in now for a nominal fee—and that there was a very real chance of it succeeding. Not so fast, said Schalke chairman Clemens Tonnies, who stepped up to rubbish the reports.

"That’s a hoax," was Tonnies succinct response when pressed on the latest round of Matip rumours by Sport 1. It has further been suggested that Schalke continue to believe they will be able to convince Matip to sign a new deal to remain beyond the end of the current season; that his departure isn’t a foregone conclusion.

And if that is true, it might help to explain why Matip has so far failed to sign a pre-contract with Liverpool, something he’s been free to do—and that the club have been free to announce—from the start of the month.