Schalke 04 eager to keep Benedikt Howedes

Schalke 04 have no intention of selling Benedikt Howedes when the transfer window opens this summer, according to executive chairman Clemens Tonnies.

Reports in the last week have claimed that Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the Germany international, but Tonnies insists that there have been no talks about allowing the defender to leave.

"I am very close to Benedikt Howedes and if there was anything in it, then I would be the first to know about it," he told Sport1. "I won't assume that anything has been agreed."

Arsenal were also linked with a move for Howedes earlier this year.