Rabbi Matondo: Schalke sign Manchester City and Wales winger

31st Jan 2019 | Source: BBC

Rabbi Matondo made his senior Wales debut against Albania in November 2018

Schalke have signed Manchester City winger Rabbi Matondo on a four-and-a-half-year deal worth 11m euros (£9.6m).

The 18-year-old never made a first team appearance at City but made his international debut for Wales in their 1-0 defeat to Albania in November.

He scored six goals in 11 appearances for City's Under-21 side this season and regularly trained with Pep Guardiola's senior team.

"Before coming here I already knew a bit about Schalke," Matondo said.

"Mesut Ozil, Ivan Rakitic and Leroy Sane all took big steps in their careers here.

"As well as that, I had some good chats with the coach and my new teammates only had good things to say.

"The Bundesliga is a great league too. Schalke is the right decision for my career and I'm happy to now be a part of this club and their future plans."

Matondo - whose transfer includes 2m euros of add-ons - becomes the latest young British player to leave Manchester City for Europe's big clubs, after the Premier League champions sold Brahim Diaz to Real Madrid in deal that could be worth £22m earlier in January.

Another youngster, England forward Jadon Sancho, 18, left the club to join Borussia Dortmund for £10m in August 2017.

"We have been interested in Rabbi for a long time, because we are impressed with his potential," said Schalke head coach Domenico Tedesco.

"He is extremely quick and technically strong. We can't forget how young he is though. We will give him the time he needs to find his feet at Schalke and in the Bundesliga."

Deals for academy/young players from Manchester City over past three seasons:

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester) £25.4m (20 City starts)

Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid) £21m (4 starts)

Angus Gunn (Southampton) £13.5m (0 starts)

Enes Unal (Villarreal) £12.7m (0 starts)

Jason Denayer (Lyon) £9.9m (0 starts)

Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) £9.1m (0 starts)

Pablo Maffeo (Stuttgart) £8.8m (3 starts)

Rony Lopes (Monaco) £8.8m (3 starts)

Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield) £8m (0 starts)

Karim Rekik (Marseille) £7.5m (1 start)

Geronimo Rulli (Real Sociedad) £5.8m (0 starts)