Schalke 04: Gerald Asamoah dreams of a career as a Bundesliga manager

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At the beginning of 1989, the members of FC Schalke elected Günter Eichberg, a new president, who wanted to bring the then second division team back into the Bundesliga. A spectacular commitment followed the next summer: Aleksandr Borodyuk was the first Russian player in German professional football ever to be ripped off from Dinamo Moscow, including strange circumstances. Because, according to his own statement, he still had to be formally demoted as a captain in the Red Army, the striker showed up in Gelsenkirchen 16 days late.

Also noteworthy: The club’s record transfer fee of 1 million marks (equivalent to 500,000 euros) is said to have flowed partly into “currency and property such as computers, fax machines and shoes”, reported the “Spiegel” at the time, among others. But Borodyuk showed his skills on the pitch, scoring 29 goals in two years in the second tier and winning promotion with the Royal Blues before moving to Freiburg in 1994.

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While still in the second division, President Eichberg improved Schalke’s transfer record and brought Radmilo Mihajlovic to Gelsenkirchen in January 1991. The accompanying circumstances were at least as strange as before with Borodyuk and were described by the Schalke fan newspaper “Schalke our” as “Traumspiel in Five Acts” processed in its entirety.

The short summary: The already controversial Eichberg paid FC Bayern the equivalent of 250,000 euros more than would have been necessary, the striker from Yugoslavia also let the S04 president be ripped off and made him the best-paid professional in Germany as a second division player. However, the €1.5 million signing Mihajlovic did not impress in terms of sport, in two and a half years at the club he only scored 12 goals in 60 games.

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The next increase in the expenditure record for a player fell in the Eichberg era, which ended in 1993. After the successful return to the top flight, a new striker was needed, for which the Dane Bent Christensen seemed ideally suited as a three-time top scorer in his homeland. 2.5 million euros were transferred to Brondby IF for him. But the liaison between royal blue and the attacker turned out to be a misunderstanding. Christensen did not get the chance he had hoped for either coach Aleksandar Ristic or his successors Udo Lattek and Helmut Schulte and only scored eight times in 49 league games. After two years in the Schalke jersey, he was first loaned to Olympiacos Piraeus and SD Compostela before the Spaniards signed him for 250,000 euros, giving Christensen a big loss for Schalke, who were suffering financially at the time.

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On the way to triumphing in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup, those responsible for Schalke were so impressed by the two-time goal scorer in the second round in the 3-3 first leg against Trabzonspor that the record was broken for him around two years later. Hami Mandirali cost 3.5 million euros, promised a lot due to his strong performances in the Süper Lig, but could hardly keep anything. His style as a playmaker didn’t fit the system and he quickly felt homesick for Turkey, where he was an undisputed star of the league. After just one year in the Bundesliga, he switched back to Trabzonspor for just €2.25m and was remembered for his shot attempts from a very long distance.

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In the same summer, S04 made the next personal record investment and, despite the bad experience, brought in a Danish striker from Brondby again. With Ebbe Sand, who cost 5.15 million euros, everything should go very differently than with his failed compatriot. Sand was active for Schalke for seven years, became top scorer in the 2000/01 season and twice won the DFB Cup in the Ruhr area. The striker, who ended his career at Schalke in 2006, is still popular with the fans and is the third most successful goalscorer in the club’s history. Sand im recalled his transfer Interview with 11Freunde , manager Rudi Assauer made it clear alone in Copenhagen. “After that everyone went down to a pub, ate herring, ordered schnapps and beer.”

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Half a year after Sand, the next striker came for the then record price of 8.5 million euros: Emile Mpenza. Initially, the two formed a strong strike duo, the young Belgian scored 19 goals and provided 13 assists in his first 42 Bundesliga games. But after that the injuries increased, and disciplinary problems pushed the sporting achievements more and more into the background. The final stroke came at the end of August 2003. “Emile explained to us that he no longer wanted to play at Schalke. We don’t need people like that,” said manager Rudi Assauer and gave his yes-word for Mpenza’s return to Standard Liège. The transfer fee was only 2 million euros.

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Discipline was always an issue with Mpenza’s successor as a Schalke record transfer. On the other hand, Jefferson Farfán, who was brought in from PSV Eindhoven for 10 million euros in 2008, was usually convincing and was also popular with the supporters. The Peruvian winger had 53 goals and 69 assists in a total of 228 competitive games before leaving S04 in 2015 for the United Arab Emirates for €7m. In the meantime, it looked as if his time at Schalke would end much earlier. In January 2011, an almost perfect transfer to VfL Wolfsburg is said to have collapsed only because Farfán’s wage demands were too high, which sparked a discussion about the “greed” of professional footballers. The 35-year-old is now active at Lokomotiv Moscow and is one of the top scorers there.

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For 7 years, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s goalscoring skills could be admired with the Royal Blues. After a tough game of poker, Schalke was able to pry him away from AC Milan for 14 million euros at the end of the 2010 transfer summer – a worthwhile investment. After the attacker had already won the cup in his first season, he really turned things up in 2011/12. 29 goals in 32 Bundesliga games meant the top scorer for the “Hunter”, who is still very popular at Schalke. With a total of 126 goals, the 76-cap Netherlands international is the second-best goalscorer in club history.

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Those responsible had certainly hoped for something similar when Breel Embolo was signed. Huntelaar’s former record transfer fee was almost doubled to prevail against the competition and lure the young Swiss striker to Gelsenkirchen in the summer of 2016. But it should be different than its predecessor from the Netherlands. Embolo broke his ankle in October and has struggled with injuries since then. His time at Schalke finally ended last summer after 61 games in three years (12 goals, 9 assists) with a move to Borussia Mönchengladbach – for a fee of 10 million euros.