Schalke have released Ghana’s Kevin Prince Boateng with immediate effect, a statement from the club has said.
The statement says the Ghanaian, together with his teammate Sidney Sam, are both surplus to requirements.
Kevin-Prince has had a turbulent time with the Royal Blues mainly because of injury while Sam has not been as good as was expected.
The statement released on the club’s website:
“Schalke sporting director Horst Heldt announced there would be consequences after Sunday’s defeat away to 1. FC Köln and the first action has been taken: Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sidney Sam have been released with immediate effect. Marco Höger is suspended from training and first-team action up to and including Saturday, 16th May.”
It must be said that despite being released from the club, Boateng still remains under contract with the club.
Boateng’s move to Schalke in 2013 raised eyebrows after a stellar time with Milan, who needed to offload him and others because of their high wages.
The midfielder, who earns about $10 million a year with the club, was expected to help Schalke challenge the Dortmund-Bayern hegemony, but his long-time injury niggles will not allow him consistency.
Attitude issues have not helped either, with frequent reports of strops with players and staff punctuating his stay.
It is not clear what his next move would be and with his national team career clearly over – since his infamous rant at former Ghana boss Kwesi Appiah at Brazil 2014 got him sacked – where would the troubled genius go next?
Credit: Gary Al-Smith