Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos was signed to Bayer Leverkusen from Bundesliga rivals Schalke on loan until the end of the season.

Papadopoulos was once a target of Liverpool. The 22-year-old athlete, however, has missed the majority of the past two seasons due to injury he has suffered. He said that he really is pleased that his transfer has worked out and now, Papadopoulos has high hopes and is looking forward to finally kick-start his career after so long since the BayArena.

"Just like Schalke, Leverkusen is a very ambitious club. Unfortunately, I was injured often last season, but now I'm fully fit again and higly motivated to reach my personal aims and those of the club this season."

Schalke, on the other hand, did not want to be a hindrance to a player who will return to them in a year's time with 12 months still to run on a contract he signed in 2012.

"It was Kyriakos' wish after his long injury absence to be able to gain more match practice and that is why we agreed to this loan," Schalke's director of sport Horst Heldt said. They also hoped that the athlete's wish is granted.

The director of Leverkusen added: "With Kyriakos Papadopoulos, we have further bolstered the quality in our defense."

"Consequently, we feel we are well equipped in every part of our team and ready for the challenges to come."