Leeds United defender Maximilian Wober is close to agreeing a move to Bundesliga side Schalke.Wober, 28, is expected to reach an agreement to terminate his Leeds contract before joining the German club on a free transfer.The Austrian has already travelled to Germany, where he has completed the first part of his medical.Wober joined Leeds for €12million (£10m) from Red Bull Salzburg in 2023, but has since made fewer than 30 first-team appearances for the club.This will be a return to Germany for Wober, who has spent two of the last three seasons on loan in the Bundesliga, playing for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2023-24 and Werder Bremen in 2025-26. While the first loan was a relative success, the second was badly disrupted by injury, limiting the Austrian to just two substitute appearances in the Bundesliga and playing for a combined 35 minutes.An inevitable exitThe imminent termination of Wober’s Leeds contract brings the curtain down on a very difficult three and a half years in his career. He was one of the few players to emerge from the wreckage of 2023’s relegation with any credit, but has done nothing since then to preserve any kind of legacy at Elland Road.Wober escaped the Championship in 2023-24 with a loan to Gladbach, but found nobody giving him an exit route the following year. Injury scuppered any part he could play in 2024-25’s 100-point Championship title, but even when he was fit, Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk were too good to be supplanted.Leeds fans expected Wober would be sold last summer, but instead another loan was arranged.There was one year remaining on his contract in West Yorkshire. Wober had little transfer value in the market after two years of very little football and Leeds will be pleased to draw a line under his time with them.Meanwhile, Leeds have indicated their most recent offer to Southampton for midfielder Shea Charles is their best and final bid. They remain happy to take on the Northern Ireland international, if Southampton accept their offer, but appear happy to move on to other targets if necessary.Schalke are, by membership, one of the biggest clubs in Germany, but spent the last three years in the second division. They are newly promoted to the Bundesliga for the 2026-27 season and have been active in the transfer market, adding to a squad that already includes veteran Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko and former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, and is coached by Miron Muslic, formerly of Plymouth Argyle.Wober will become the fifth signing of the summer, after Satoshi Tanaka, Kevin Muller, Junior Adamu and, most notably, Robin Gosens, the former Germany international who has joined on loan from Fiorentina.