Matija Nastasic has admitted that a lack of football this season forced him to leave Manchester City for Schalke 04.

The 21-year-old has not played a single league game for City this season despite their injury problems in defence, nor will he feature in the second half of the campaign after securing a loan move to Schalke on Monday.

"It has been hard for me this season and I wanted to go; at this stage of my career I need to be playing games," Nastasic told Sky Sports News.

"I think Schalke is the best option for me right now. I had a couple of options but with my agent and Manchester City, we decided Schalke was best for me.

"At the moment it is a loan and at the end of the season we will see what should happen."

Nastasic also hinted that he had offers to stay in the Premier League when speaking on Tuesday.