Marc Wilmots is now the new sports director of FC Schalke 04. The Belgian signed a long-term contract with the Royal Blues on Wednesday (January 3, 2024). André Hechelmann will hold the newly created position of Technical Director.
The 54-year-old Wilmots will fill the gap left by Peter Knäbel. The former sports director and the club agreed on January 1st to immediately terminate the contract, which runs until June 30, 2024. As Schalke announced, the position of sports director will no longer be filled.
Worked as a manager in Belgium
“As Belgian national coach, Marc worked like a manager and developed all departments around the team sustainably. That’s exactly what we expect from him at Schalke. He will also be able to identify trends and possible developments at an early stage thanks to his closeness to the coach and team Dynamics within the licensed team can be felt,” Matthias Tillmann, CEO of S04, is quoted as saying on the club’s homepage.
Wilmots, UEFA Cup winner in 1997 and therefore one of the Eurofighters, has overall sporting responsibility as sports director. This includes in particular the squad planning, the coaching team and the staff.
The Belgian played for Schalke for a total of six years and won the UEFA Cup and the DFB Cup with the club. Most recently he was a coach in Morocco at Raja Club Athletic
