FC Schalke have signed Timothee Kolodziejczak with immediate effect. The defender initially signed until the end of the season.

S04 is currently sparsely manned in central defense: After the absences of Sepp van den Berg, Marcin Kaminski and Ibrahima Cisse, Leo Greiml also joined the hospital this week. With Maya Yoshida there is only one trained professional defender left.

Before the immensely important game against Hertha BSC, the Royal Blues announced that Timothee Kolodziejczak, without a club, had been signed. The ex-Gladbacher (winter to summer 2017) has been active at AS Saint-Etienne for the past two years and had already trained at S04 in the past few days.

"In the current situation, with four central defenders injured, it's extremely important for us to have an additional option from a player who has an incredible amount of experience at the highest level. Kolo has 240 appearances in the French Ligue 1 and proved in the Spanish league that he can become a reliable part of our defence," said sporting director Rouven Schröder.

The 47-year-old emphasized the flexibility of the newcomer in particular: "He can be used as a central or left-back and can play in a three-man or four-man formation. He has also been to Germany before and therefore knows the culture and structure of the league."

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as Fix: Schalke signs clubless Kolodziejczak.