Florian Flick was not used at all in the last few weeks before the league break. Schalke 04 are therefore targeting a loan as a goal for the winter transfer window.

If you take a look at Florian Flick's previous deployment statistics for the current season, you can see a clear cut. If he was still on the pitch regularly up to and including the ninth matchday, five times even from the starting XI, he was then not allowed to play a single minute in the league.

Under Thomas Reis, the 22-year-old doesn't seem to have a good chance of playing more games. Most recently, Alex Kral and Tom Krauß were considered set, with Danny Latza as the first change option. Flick, on the other hand, had to watch from the bench.

That's why Schalke also want to use the winter transfer window to give him a loan. The reported Sky reporter Dirk Große Schlarmann on Monday evening.

He is primarily about match practice, which is why he is “quite likely” to be loaned out. Potential candidates have apparently also already opened up: Arminia Bielefeld, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and 1. FC Nürnberg are all interested.

However, Kaiserslautern can probably be removed from the list at an early stage. Flick was born in Mannheim and also spent several years in the youth team at Waldhof Mannheim. Since the two clubs - to put it politely - don't really like each other and the midfielder probably shares this attitude, he is unlikely to switch to the second division promoted team.

Either way: In all likelihood, Flick will not spend the second half of the season in Gelsenkirchen or in the Bundesliga. His contract with S04 runs until 2024, so a loan until the summer is not a problem.

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as How Schalke plans in the winter transfer window with Florian Flick.