Thilo Kehrer had a half-year to forget at West Ham United. Now the former FC Schalke 04 defender is returning to France.

AS Monaco have loaned out former Schalke player Thilo Kehrer from West Ham United until the end of the season. The Monegasques made the announcement on Friday.

According to media reports, the third-placed team in Ligue 1 also secured a purchase option worth around ten million euros, which could be binding under certain circumstances.

“I will fight to achieve the best results. I have to show my qualities to earn my place,” said Kehrer.

There is humility in the 27-year-old defender’s words. Only one and a half years ago, he moved from Paris Saint-Germain to West Ham United for 12 million euros. His first season was still promising and culminated in winning the UEFA Conference League.

Ex-Schalke professional Kehrer no longer had a chance at West Ham

This season, however, Kehrer has hardly featured under coach David Moyes. “Thilo is a fantastic lad who works very hard in training,” said Moyes recently about Kehrer, who was signed under his direction, adding: ”He brings flexibility and is very important to us with his versatility.”

Despite this, the 27-time German international has only appeared in twelve of 28 competitive matches, not once from the start. His standing in the DFB team also suffered as a result; he was last called up in June. Why has he fallen out of favor with the Hammers?

Competition, says Moyes at least: “It’s been tough for him because we have some players who have performed outstandingly defensively, but we know what he can do.”

Kehrer will now be able to prove this again in Ligue 1. He played an impressive 128 competitive matches for PSG between 2018 and 2022, winning the championship three times, the cup twice and the league cup once.

Kehrer trained at VfB Stuttgart and then at FC Schalke 04. After a total of six years with the Royal Blues, PSG paid an impressive €37 million transfer fee for the Tübingen-born player in the summer of 2018