By Paul Clennam
Schalke have reached an agreement with Manchester City over a deal for defender Matija Nastasic, Goal can reveal.
The centre-back, who has fallen out of favour at the Etihad Stadium, will join the German club initially on loan but with a view to a £10 million permanent transfer in the summer.
Goal understands Roberto Di Matteo's side, who are currently fifth in the Bundesliga table, will pay Nastasic's £75,000-a-week wages in full during the six-month loan period.
Negotiations between the two clubs have been ongoing over the past two weeks, with Schalke unable to afford a permanent transfer in January and having only been willing to pay £8m for the Serbia international.
The Bundesliga club have, however, now given verbal assurances that they will meet City's £10m valuation at the conclusion of the 2014-15 campaign but have stopped short at giving a cast-iron commitment to a full transfer.
Nastasic has been frozen out at City and has only featured in one game thus far this season - the 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal back in August.
The 21-year-old was initially offered to Premier League rivals Tottenham and Arsenal back in November for a cut-price fee but is now set to complete a switch to Schalke with an official announcement expected in the coming days.
