Schalke extend Naldo's contract

BERLIN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The "Royal Blues" have extended the contract of defender Naldo ahead of schedule, the Bundesliga club announced in an official statement on Thursday.

Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues, commonly known as Naldo, will continue playing at Schalke for another year after putting pen to paper on a contract extension until June 2019.

"Since joining us, Naldo has become the leader we hoped for. He impressed with performances on the pitch and actively lives the values of our club," Schalke's sporting director Christian Heidel said.

The Brazilian international joined from league rivals Wolfsburg in the summer 2016 to provide four goals in 46 appearances for Schalke.

Naldo is a veteran defender in the Bundesliga as he has played for 12 years nonstop in Germany's top flight. The 35-year-old Brazilian played from 2005 until 2012 for Werder Bremen before he joined Wolfsburg for four years. In the summer 2016, Naldo's contract expired with the "Wolves" after scoring 16 goals in 126 outings.

The defender is well known for his two-footed, and set piece skills. Besides, he is always a threat in aerial contests, which he proved again with his 4-4 equalizer by header against local rivals Borussia Dortmund in the dying second of the game on November 25.

"If you look at Naldo's performances, it is rather likely that we will continue our cooperation beyond 2019," Heidel told the club's official homepage.

The "Royal Blues" occupy currently the 3rd spot in the Bundesliga standings. They encounter fourth placed Borussia Monchengladbach at the 15th round on Saturday. Enditem