Loris Karius looks set to sign for Bundesliga 2 side Schalke this weekend after undergoing a medical. The goalkeeper has been without a club since leaving Newcastle United in the summer.

The 31-year-old admitted in November that he was considering hanging up his gloves after failing to find the right club. As a free agent, he had plenty of offers, including in Saudi Arabia, but wanted to remain close to his Italian TV presenter wife Diletta Leotta and their daughter Aria.

Now, it appears Karius has decided to try and resurrect his faltering career back in his homeland. The German youth international is set to sign a six month contract with Schalke until the end of the season. It marks a return to action for the goalkeeper who admits he had hoped to play more during his spell at Newcastle.

READ MORE: £47m Newcastle United duo could force Eddie Howe into decision he has yet to make at St James' Park

READ MORE: Miguel Almiron '£8m' transfer fee verdict as Newcastle United weigh up offers

Instead, he featured just twice for the Magpies, with the first of those games famously coming in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley against Manchester United. Karius was thrust into the spotlight after Nick Pope was sent off a week earlier and was subsequently banned for the showpiece game, and with No.2 Martin Dubravka cup-tied after appearing on loan for Man United, Karius was catapulted to the fore.

He performed solidly that day but was unable to prevent Man Utd lifting the trophy after a 2-0 win. The next game, Pope was back in between the sticks and Karius wasn't even on the bench, with Dubravka the goalkeeping substitute.

Karius was handed a one-year extension in the summer of 2023, but only made one further appearance in February 2024 against Arsenal. Pope had been injured since November, but Howe had opted to start Dubravka ahead of Karius for the remainder of the season, apart from that Arsenal game when Dubravka went down ill on the morning.

"In the second season, when (Nick) Pope was injured, I expected, or hoped, to play games," says Karius, who signed for the Magpies as a free agent in September 2022 after Karl Darlow picked up an injury.

"In the end, there was always a reason why it didn't happen. That's the only thing I look back on with regret because if I had played the second half of that season, then we probably wouldn't be talking now and I’d be at another club, starting afresh. But that's football. You can't change it."

Karius insists he enjoyed his time on Tyneside, but says it was a mutual decision to leave at the end of his contract at St James' Park. Howe, he says, wanted to keep him but with little chance of playing, the German felt there was no point in staying.

“It didn't really make sense to me to do a third year," he admits. "I don't know. I asked myself, ‘Was I the second-choice and would I get games?’ It was difficult. The coach would have liked to keep me but all in all; the whole package didn't make sense for a third year. It made sense to move on. They were two great years but it was time for a change."

That change has been a long time coming for the German U21 international, whose career nose-dived after a nightmare performance in the 2018 Champions League final with Liverpool. With the game against Real Madrid tightly poised, his throw out was blocked by Karim Benzema, resulting in Madrid's first goal, and then he fumbled a 40-yeard Gareth Bale strike into the net. Liverpool lost 3-1 and Karius never played for them again.

"It has been difficult to shake off," he admits. "Even at other clubs when I was trying to gain a manager's trust or get game time when I felt like, in my opinion, I deserved it…there have definitely been moments where I've thought that was my disadvantage.

"It might not even be the manager's fault but if you know you have a player that is going to draw so much attention then it's going to add pressure. They've probably thought, ‘I'll take the easy and safe way rather than go the other route.’

"You can understand in some ways but it's frustrating when there isn't much else you can do to change their mind."