MUNICH: Bayern Munich is sending injury-prone defender Holger Badstuber on loan to Schalke to get more game time.

The center-back has struggled with repeated injuries in recent years and is not in Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti's plans, having played only three games this season, starting just once.

Bayern's chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says Badstuber "was often injured but is physically fit once more," adding that Badstuber asked Bayern management for the move from the Bundesliga leader to 11th-placed Schalke, which will run until the end of the season.

Badstuber says he wants to regain match fitness and that "in Schalke, I can get the game time I need right now."

Badstuber has played 31 times for Germany, but it has been almost two years since his last international appearance.