Matija Nastasic has made his move to Schalke permanent after he activated a clause in his contract by playing seven games for the Bundesliga side, after only joining them on loan in January.
He endured a tough last 18 months at City from the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini onwards, struggling to get back in favour after the 2-1 loss at Chelsea in October 2013, the winning goal of which was at least partially his fault and from which he regrettably never recovered.
There had been talk for some time that Nastasic was on the verge of leaving the club over the last couple of windows, and he finally got his move in January as he made a temporary switch to the Bundesliga outfit for the rest of the season. However, that loan deal did include a clause that said the deal would be made permanent he played 7 games for Schalke.
Since making his debut for the German side on January 31st, Nastasic has played every single minute of action for Schalke in Bundesliga and Champions League action, and that has allowed him to make his switch permanent. As sad as that is for City fans, he probably wasn’t going to make it here, what with Mangala signing last summer and players like Denayer coming up from the academy, but it’s still a big shame. He was very impressive in his first season in England, but unfortunately it just hasn’t worked out as planned.
Nastasic has signed for Schalke on a contract that runs until 2019.
