Afellay loaned for one season to Schalke 04 #FCBlive

PHOTO: ARCHIVE FCB
The 26 year old Dutchman will play in the Bundesliga until June 30, 2013

FC Barcelona and Schalke 04 have reached an agreement for the loan of Ibrahim Afellay to the German club until June 30, 2013. Ibrahim Afellay, 26 years of age, came to FC Barcelona on December 24, 2010 from PSV Eindhoven during the winter transfer window. He played 27 games, 16 in La Liga, 6 in the Copa del Rey and 5 in the Champions League.

Injury hit season

In the 2011/12 season, the highly versatile player was expected to play far more games than he actually did, given his ability to play in so many positions and shoot with both his left and right foot. But a serious cruciate ligament injury during preseason training meant he missed out on the entire campaign. He was finally declared fit in April 2012, but barely featured in the final games of the season.

This summer he has appeared in all of the preseason matches and scored one of the goals in a 2-0 win over Dinamo Bucharest.