Report: Schalke set to beat Manchester City to Badstuber loan
Pep Guardiola's efforts to strengthen Manchester City's susceptible defence could be dealt a blow early in January, after it appears Bayern Munich's Holger Badstuber may be heading elsewhere.
Guardiola had eyed the Germany international, whom he worked with in Bavaria, as an ideal fit in Eastlands, but the Guardian's Jamie Jackson understands FC Schalke 04 has already agreed to terms on a loan deal - the only way Badstuber will depart the Allianz Arena.
"I said if he decided to leave because he wanted to play we can deal with it for six months," Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti told AFP Sport.
"We can speak about this with him. There is no chance he will be sold. The idea of the club is to renew the contract. If he wants to go to play it will be to go on loan."
Missing out on Badstuber may be due to stalling on City's part, with Guardiola wanting to give Vincent Kompany another opportunity to prove his fitness in his latest comeback from injury. The captain and fan favourite could return for Sunday's Premier League trip to Everton.
Kompany's previous returns aren't particularly encouraging, however, with the Belgium skipper making just 29 appearances in two-and-a-half seasons, layoffs predominantly down to repeated calf issues.
If City was to make a late dash for Badstuber, an inevitable criticism would be that Guardiola is simply switching one crocked centre-half in Kompany for another. The 27-year-old is an intelligent and tidy ball-playing defender, but has been shunted down the pecking order at Bayern Munich after missing a whopping 207 matches due to injury since the start of the 2012-13 season.
And even if he moved to Schalke, first-team football wouldn't be assured.
"Badstuber is, when it comes to bringing the ball out of defence, one of the best, but he has been injured for a long time," Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel told Sky Sports Germany on Tuesday. "If he comes to us he won't have a guaranteed place even though he wants to get back to the player he was two years ago."