Small fee for Royal Blues
Schalke‘s firesale continues on deadline day. Forward Matthew Hoppe leaves the club and joins RCD Mallorca. The 20-year-old becomes the 25th player to Schalke after the club was relegated to Bundesliga 2 ahead of this season. 18 new players—including from the academy—have been brought in.
Hoppe has now signed a contract over the next four years at Mallorca. Transfermarkt understands that Schalke will receive €3 million for the US men’s national team player, who was part of the squad that won the Gold Cup last summer. The deal is significantly below his market value of €4.5 million, which makes him the fifth most valuable US center-forward. Hoppe broke into Schalke’s first team in January and then scored six goals in 22 games for the Royal Blues.
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“The financial framework of the deal meant that we had to accept it in our current financial situation,” Schalke director of sports Rouven Schröder said. “Matthew is a great kid but he would have had a tough time gaining the sort of playing time that he had envisioned for himself. We wish him all the best for his private and sporting future.”
