Kyriakos Papadopoulos impressed during his time at the club. Getty Images

Greece defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos is making his move to Bayer Leverkusen permanent and has signed a five-year contract with the club.

Papadopoulos, 23, joined Leverkusen from Bundesliga rival Schalke last summer on a one-year loan deal.

The defender was linked with both Liverpool and AC Milan but a knee injury suffered in November 2012 kept him out for a year and stopped him moving clubs.

However Papadopoulos has now fully recovered and is excited about the future.

"I am delighted that it worked out," he told the Leverkusen website. "I am looking forward to my future with this great team and think we can still move forward a lot."

Having made 14 Bundesliga appearances -- scoring twice -- for Roger Schmidt's side on loan, Schalke were keen to tie him down.

"Kyriakos Papadopoulos sees his future at Leverkusen," Schalke's sporting director Horst Heldt said. "We have met his wishes and give him our best."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.