He was instrumental in the rise of Schalke. Now Ko Itakura is joining a club in the Bundesliga.
Defender Ko Itakura is moving to Gladbach. The “foals” confirmed this on Saturday evening. The TV stations “Sky” and “Sport1” had already reported on Friday evening that the 25-year-old Japanese was completing his medical check-up at Borussia.
The central defender, who was loaned out by English champions Manchester City to FC Schalke 04 when they were relegated last season, is scheduled to go to the training camp at Tegernsee next week.
Contract until 2026
The Japanese receives a contract until 2026 and should cost a transfer fee of four to five million euros. In Manchester, Itakura still had a contract until June 30, 2023.
He played 32 games for Schalke, scoring four goals. Itakura was almost always in the starting XI, developing into a top performer. The Royal Blues would have liked to keep the Japanese, but could not cope with the high transfer fee.