Bundesliga and Champions League hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen have clinched the signing of Philipp Wollscheid from Nuremberg.
The 22-year-old centre-back was tied to Nuremberg until 2014, but Leverkusen made an undisclosed offer that the Bavarian club accepted and agreed a five-year contract with the player. He will join his new club in the January transfer window. We are firmly convinced Bayer 04 have signed one of the most talented and best central defenders in Germany in Philipp Wollscheid, Leverkusen chief executive officer Wolfgang Holzhauser told Leverkusen s official website. He s got great potential and will make a decisive contribution to strengthening our defence. Wollscheid joined Nuremberg from Saarbrucken in 2009 and made his club debut in November 2010. He became a regular starter after the Bundesliga s winter break and reportedly caught the interest of several clubs aside from Leverkusen, including Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Philipp told us about his desire to move in an open and honest discussion, Nuremberg sporting director Martin Bader told the club s official website. We made it clear to Philipp and the clubs interested in him that Nuremberg would only be prepared to agree to a transfer if our valuation of Philipp was reflected in the transfer fee. After extensive and constructive talks over recent weeks, our expectations have been met by the offer made to us by Leverkusen. Wollscheid follows in the footsteps of striker Stefan Kiessling in making the move from Nuremberg to Leverkusen.
