Hildebrand joins Schalke
FC Schalke 04 have signed former Germany international goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand until the end of the season.
The 32-year-old spent last season with Portuguese top flight outfit Sporting Lisbon but has been without a club since the summer.
Schalke moved to bring in Hildebrand in response to the long-term injury suffered by regular No1 Ralf Fährmann, who damaged his cruciate ligament in last week's Bundesliga match against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Youngster Lars Unnerstall and veteran Mathias Schober were the only other keepers available to coach Huub Stevens.
The seven-time German international had been keeping himself fit by training with Eintracht Frankfurt and also put in some extra sessions with his personal goalkeeping coach Kai Rabe.
Hildebrand began his football journey in 1984 with local side FV Hofheim, prior to joining VfB Stuttgart in 1995. It was with the Swabians that the 6'1 shot-stopper became a household name, winning the Bundesliga title in 2007 and establishing himself in the national squad.
At the 2006 World Cup on home turf, Hildebrand collected a bronze medal third-choice keeper for Germany. In 2007 he moved to Valencia CF, winning the national cup with the Spanish side before spells at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (2009/10) and Sporting (2010/11)
"I'm delighted to be moving to FC Schalke 04. I had to wait a long time for the right offer to come along," said Hildebrand. "I had a good feeling about Schalke, which I didn't have about the other offers I'd had. I'm raring to go and am looking forward to the challenge," he concluded.
Hildebrand will join up with his new teammates on Friday, for his first training session.
Bundesliga.de