Bernard Tekpetey: Ghana and Schalke 04 attacker leaves Fortuna Dusseldorf for Ludogorets

Ghana international Bernard Tekpetey has prematurely ended his loan stint with relegated Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf, the club have announced.

The development brings to end weeks of dispute between the two parties which resulted in the player being excused from training earlier this week.

Promptly, the attacker, who was on loan from Schalke 04, has joined Bulgarian side Ludogorets on a two-year loan deal.

"Bernard Tekpetey returns to FC Schalke 04 after one season. The loan was originally designed for two years," Dusseldorf announced on their official website on Thursday.

Tekpetey signed a two-year loan deal with Dusseldorf last summer following the club’s promotion to the elite division.

The 22-year-old was, however, agitated by his limited playing time at Merkur Spiel-Arena as the club suffered relegation at the end of the season.

With just nine league appearances involving five starts all through last term, he made up his mind to move on despite one more year remaining on his contract and refused to show up to training this week.

"The loan from Bernard Tekpetey could now be ended prematurely because we found a solution with Schalke 04 that could fully take our economic demands into account. We wish Bernard all the best for the future," Dusseldorf Sports Director Uwe Klein explained.

Earlier, Tekpetey was quoted by Express saying he "will never play for Dusseldorf again", a comment which drew a reaction from Klein.

"If a player is disappointed, he cannot simply say that he doesn't want to come anymore. I made it clear to him and his adviser in a personal conversation that I gave my opinion. We won't just give Bernard the go-ahead," the Dusseldorf executive remarked.

Last season, Tekpetey played in the Bundesliga 2 with Paderborn, making 32 appearances involving 23 starts, with 10 goals and four assists.

He joined parent club Schalke from Ghanaian side UniStar Academy in 2016.

The following year, the attacker was farmed out on loan to Austrian fold Altach owing to limited opportunities at Veltins-Arena,

He was then sold to Paderborn ahead of the 2018-19 term but a fine outing in the lower division saw Schalke exercise a buy-back option to re-sign the Ghanaian before promptly sending him out on a two-year loan to Dusseldorf last summer.

A full Ghana international, Tekpetey represented the Black Stars at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.