Chelsea defender Baba Rahman snubbed a loan move to West Brom to enable him stay in the English Premier League and opted for the German Bundesliga club Schalke.

The Ghana international opted not to sign for West Brom because he wants to play before capacity crowds which will be offered when playing for Schalke, his manager has revealed.

West Brom were among the four clubs seeking the signature of the left-back after it became clear that he does not feature in the plans of new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.

Italian giants AS Roma, Bundesliga outfits Liepzig and Hoffenheim were on keen on the defender, but the lure of playing before capacity crowds looks to have forced the move back to Germany.

“Baba prefers to play in front of a 60,000 packed capacity arena every week, hence the decision to opt for Schalke among all the others," Baba's manager Kurt Okraku said.

Baba left Chelsea's training camp in California on Friday night ahead of his loan switch to German giants Schalke.

The 22-year-old boarded a flight from California heading to the German city of Dusseldorf before the short ride to Schalke.

He arrived in Germany by Saturday afternoon before talks with Schalke clubs officials over the loan move to the ambitious club.

Rahman will undergo a medical with German giants Schalke on Sunday before the deal is sealed after the two clubs agreed to the move.

The Ghana international's future with the Blues was thrown into doubt following the arrival of new Italian manager Antonio Conte.

Rahman was declared surplus to manager Conte's plans for next season which prompted the youngster to call for the loan move to ensure regular playing time.

The Blues have now agreed on the one-year deal for the player who could only manage 14 appearances with Chelsea after the bumper £14m move from German side Augsburg last year.