“WAZ” report
©IMAGO
Along with Edin Dzeko, Adil Aouchiche is one of the top winter signings for second division leaders FC Schalke 04. Actually, the 23-year-old offensive player couldn’t have ended up with the Royal Blues – because, according to the “WAZ”, he was considered too good and too expensive and therefore fell through the cracks of the club’s own scouting tool. However, Maximilian Lüftl, the new squad planner and head of the scouting department, sensed his chance and took it.
Background: AFC Sunderland had already loaned six professionals abroad and had thus exhausted the quota according to the FIFA statutes, but wanted to temporarily release another player. To make this possible, the door was opened for a permanent transfer to one of the previous loan players – Aouchiche to be precise. On Deadline Day, the Frenchman, who was on loan for Aberdeen FC in the first half of the season, even moved to Schalke on a free transfer and signed until 2027.
“No matter how well you are prepared, some things arise spontaneously and then you have to act quickly,” Lüftl is quoted by the newspaper. Initially, his transfer coup Aouchiche is only tied for a year and a half. However, according to reports, a deployment clause comes into effect as soon as certain parameters are met. It is said that if the former Parisian top talent plays at least 22 times for the Knappen in the following 2026/27 season, his contract will be extended by two years until 2029.
According to the report, Aouchiche, who impressed with three assists in his first three games, has a Schalke DNA value of more than 95. However, S04 boss Matthias Tilmann recently explained in a Transfermarkt interview that this number does not alone determine a transfer: “Edin Dzeko doesn’t have 70 percent Schalke DNA. We don’t need to talk around it: he doesn’t run 13 kilometers like a Soufiane El-Faouzi. But he doesn’t have to. But he gives you completely different qualities. In principle, 80 percent of our squad should meet the requirements. But that doesn’t mean that we have everyone else Player categorically only if he is a great option for the team and fits well into the team structure.”
Market value plus for Schalke’s Aouchiche?
With one exception in May 2024, Aouchiche’s market value has almost only gone downhill since the career high in 2020, currently at 1.3 million euros. If the development remains the same, Neu-Schalke should be one of the candidates for an upgrade in the update on March 13th. The market value analysis already argues in this direction and as a registered Transfermarkt user you can also give your opinion there (this way!).
