Town's record buy Schindler keen to get started

The 26-year-old former 1860 Munich captain has become Town’s fourth close-season capture from Germany, with head coach David Wagner having extensively utitlised his contacts book in his homeland to sign the quartet.

FC Kaiserlautern full-back Chris Lowe and Dynamo Dresden stopper Michael Hefele and FC Ingolstadt forward Elias Kachunga were Town’s earlier arrivals.

Central defender Schindler is effectively a replacement for Joel Lynch, who has completed his expected move to QPR, with the sale of the 28-year-old helping to fund the record outlay.

Town have recouped an initial £750,000 for Lynch, who links up with R’s manager Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, who worked with him briefly during his time at Nottingham Forest and the deal could rise to £1.5m with add-ons.

On being unperturbed by the fee paid by Town, the ex-Germany Under-21 international, who has an option of a further 12 months with Town, said: “I am looking forward to a great adventure and to the challenges which lie ahead, but my job is to stop opponents scoring goals and that is my main focus.

“I have been at 1860 since I was eight-years-old, so this is a big step for me in my career, but it’s normal in football for professionals to move on and this is definitely the right time for me.

Speaking about his new recruit, Wagner said: “He (Schindler) is good in the aerial challenge and is a very composed player, who is great at reading the game.

“A big part of our decision to allow Joel Lynch to join Queens Park Rangers was the availability of Christopher.

“I am totally comfortable breaking the club’s transfer record to bring him here.”

Schindler’s signing takes Town’s number of senior signings so far this summer to eight with Dutch winger Rajiv van La Parra, Croatian midfielder Ivan Paurevic, playmaker Jack Payne and goalkeeper Joel Coleman having also joined.

The Schindler fee eclipses the seven-figure fee that Town paid for Nahki Wells, who arrived from West Yorkshire neighbours Bradford City in January 2014.