Joel Matip has explained that he feels the summer is the right time to leave Schalke after he decided to join Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Cameroon international, whose present contract with Schalke is set to expire in the summer, has progressed through the club’s youth system.
Matip has thus far amassed 243 appearances in all competitions for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring 23 times.
However, the 24-year-old decided not to extend his association with Schalke beyond the season, with the centre-back insisting that he now wants to ply his trade in a different league.
Matip, who admitted that it was difficult for him in deciding to quit Schalke, thinks it would be great to walk to the pitch at Anfield.
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“I thought about it for a long time. It was a difficult decision since I have been here since my childhood”, he was quoted as saying by LFC TV.
“I have lots of good memories and lots to thank the club and people here for. Despite that I think this is the right time for me to go abroad and experience something new.
“Liverpool are a club with huge tradition and I would imagine it is a beautiful thing when you walk out on the pitch there. The Premier League is a very special league, with high standards.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is a big fan of Matip, who has played 26 games this season, finding the back of the net four times, having watched the defender at close quarters during his managerial stint at Borussia Dortmund.
