Schalke in the hunt for Appiah

Bundesliga - Schalke have admitted their interest in bringing Ghanaian midfielder Stephen Appiah to the Veltins Arena.

Appiah impressed alongside Michael Essien in midfield for his country at last summer's World Cup, and Schalke are now rumoured to be preparing an 8 million euro (£5 million) bid to prise him away from Fenerbahce.

Right now we're thinking about it, admitted Schalke general manager Andreas Mueller. But we are interested in the player, because he would fit perfectly into our set-up.

First of all we have to look at the possibilities of a transfer and the economic feasibility of such a transfer. We are not getting our hopes up over this issue as I don't know if we're are going over our financial boundaries.

The Royal Blues narrowly missed out on their first Bundesliga title since 1958 last season, throwing away a lead that grew to nine points following the Christmas break, and eventually finished second behind Stuttgart.

A large portion of the blame for Schalke's poor run over the final few games was thrust upon Brazilian playmaker Lincoln, with team-mates accusing him of slowing down the tempo of matches excessively.

He could now be offloaded to Galatasaray, who German daily Bild claims are reportedly ready to pay 8 million euros for his services, helping Schalke finance a deal for Appiah.