Belgian striker Emile Mpenza turned up for training punctually Monday after the summer break, but his future at German club Schalke 04 remains clouded, despite claims to the contrary.
The 22-year-old player of Congolese origin, who caught the eye of numerous clubs at Euro 2000, has been unsettled since arriving in Germany last January.
English Premier League units Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur were said to be hot on his tail as well as French side Bordeaux with France seeming the more likely destination.
Schalke general manager Rudi Assauer has regularly dismissed reports that Mpenza was as good as gone, claiming that "a few skirmishes with the enemy" had taken place but nothing serious.
Mpenza's Belgian girlfriend is due in Gelsenkirchen soon, Schalke's hometown, allowing him to move out of his hotel and into a home. It's hoped the familiar surroundings will help him feel more at ease.
French-speaking Mpenza has felt isolated by his inability to speak German and by the German lifestyle.
On Monday, Mpenza insisted that he would be staying at Schalke until the end of his contract in mid 2004, an unlikely scenario after all the reports in Belgian papers about his unhappiness in Germany.
Belgian team mate and close friend Marc Wilmots, who coaxed him to Schalke, has made it known that Mpenza will be off as soon as a club comes along willing to pay the high transfer fee Schalke has put on his head, reportedly as high as $13m.
Assauer had a serious talk with both players Monday and instructed them to fall into line.
"I don't care what Wilmots says. All that matters is what I and the club say," Assauer blasted.
The one good thing about all the fuss surrounding Mpenza is that it has taken the spotlight away from Andreas Moller who has difficult days ahead of him after switching to Schalke from arch-enemies Borussia Dortmund – (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
