Football Season Guide

Schalke

In


Vedad Ibisevic (att) Hertha Berlin; Sebastian Rudy (mid) Hoffenheim - end of loan; Hamza Mendyl (def) Dijon - end of loan; Steven Skrzybski (mid) Fortuna Dusseldorf - end of loan; Mark Uth (att) FC Koln - end of loan; Ralph Fahrmann (gk) SK Brann - end of loan;

Out


Weston Mckennie (r) (mid) Juventus - on loan; Alexander Nubel (r) (gk) Bayern Munich; Daniel Caligiuri (r) (mid) FC Augsburg; Bernard Tekpetey (sp) (mid) Ludogorets - on loan; Jonas Carls (def) Vitoria Guimaraes - on loan; Cedric Teuchert (att) Union Berlin; Pablo Insua (def) SD Huesca; Jonjoe Kenny (r) (def) Everton - end of loan; Michael Gregoritsch (r) (att) FC Augsburg - end of loan; Jean-Clair Todibo (sp) (def) FC Barcelona - end of loan; Juan Miranda (sp) (def) FC Barcelona - end of loan;

Last season started out promising for Schalke but eventually turned into a nightmare. Coach David Wagner somehow managed to keep his job, despite his side not winning a single one of their last 16 matches, scoring only 7 and conceding 37 times. The first thing Schalke need to do is put last season’s mess behind them and start fresh. Wagner hasn’t become a bad manager overnight and the club still feel he is the man to rebuild them. The lack of financial resources due to Covid-19 are brutally evident as the club haven’t spent a single penny in the close season so far, striker Vedad Ibisevic joins on a free from Hertha but, at 36 years-old, how much influence he will have remains to be seen. A big problem for Wagner was his side’s lack of desire in the second-half of the last campaign and to get that back isn’t going to be easy. Schalke as they proved at the beginning of last season can defend well and going back to basics will no doubt be the way to move forward.

Target


Top-half- The lack of investment and the horror show after the Covid-break could make for worrying times ahead for Schalke. A good start is pivotal to bringing back the confidence and belief but a bad one and a season of struggle awaits.