Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig have confirmed the signing of Kyriakos Papadopoulos from Bayer Leverkusen on a season-long loan.
Greece defender Papadopoulos, formerly a target of Liverpool, links up once again with Leipzig's director of sport Ralf Rangnick, who was his coach when they won the DFB Pokal together with Schalke in 2011.
"We had actually concluded all our transfer activities, but then this realistic chance of signing Kyriakos Papadopoulos arose and we decided to get active again," Rangnick told the club's official website.
"Both Bayer and the player have made financial compromises for us, which means we were able to complete this loan deal in the end.
"Kyriakos is extremely strong in the tackle and he has a high degree of aggression, and of course many years of Bundesliga experience."
Transfer complete! Kyriakos #Papadopoulos joins #DieRotenBullen from @bayer04_en on a 1-year loan deal. #DeadlineDay pic.twitter.com/Veoz0rtd4Y
- RB Leipzig English (@RBL_eng) August 31, 2016
Injury limited Papadopoulos to just 10 starts in the Bundesliga last season for Leverkusen.
He was left out of the squad for this season's opener against Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend and that appears to have convinced him to accept a move to Leipzig.
"I had a huge interest in joining Leipzig, also because their management had tried so hard to get me," Papadopoulos said.
"I've willingly made some financial sacrifices so that this transfer would go through and I am now looking forward to the chance to continue playing in the Bundesliga."
Papadopoulos has played 91 times in the Bundesliga since moving to Schalke from Olympiakos in 2010. He was initially loaned to Leverkusen by Schalke in 2014 before making a permanent switch last summer.