Supervisory board boss Hefer: Schalke wants to get out of the “cycle” of squad turnover

In 5 years towards the European Cup

Three years in a row with at least ten players on the entry and exit sides – FC Schalke 04 would like to change that in the future. In order to build sporting continuity and develop a team “that can also compete in the first league,” as the chairman of the supervisory board, Axel Hefer, in an interview with “Kicker“ emphasized.

“I am fundamentally satisfied with the transfer summer because we have created a structure that will last a season. The plan remains despite the undoubtedly disappointing start to the season: We want to achieve sustainable promotion in the next few years,” he said and answered the question about where he sees Schalke in five years with the words: “In the Bundesliga – with a participation in the European Cup in sight.”

According to the 46-year-old, everyone involved would have to be patient. The sporting situation is still due to the 2020/21 season, “when we had to be relegated to the second division with a Champions League budget as one of the worst relegations of all time”. As a result, players with some “high losses” would have had to be given up. In 2021/21, the Royal Blues generated 40.8 million euros from the sales of Weston McKennie and Co. with 2.3 million spent on transfer fees, the following year the transfer plus was around 13 million euros and this year around 14.6 million . Euro.

Are Knäbel & Hechelmann staying? Schalke wants to “look at all positions”

Hefer: Schalke had to “completely reposition themselves to a degree that is unparalleled at this level. The sporting management around Peter Knäbel and Rouven Schröder (now RB Leipzig; editor’s note) achieved this in a remarkable way. At the same time, we had to start restructuring the club’s finances.” However, the supervisory board boss did not offer a job guarantee for sports director Knäbel and sports director André Hechelmann: “Our timetable is in place, as has already been communicated several times. It’s not just about sporting leadership: we have to analyze the content of why the start of the season went wrong. We have to understand that. And I suspect that the answer can’t just be that it was solely the coach’s fault.”

The control committee wants to “look at all positions and processes” – with the help of an analysis by Knäbel and Hechelmann. Hefer: “So we will first decide what the necessary target structure should look like. Only then can we discuss the question of what the right team should look like for the future.”

With the new coach Karel Geraerts, Hefer believes he is well positioned for the fight to stay in the 2nd Bundesliga – after two recent wins he is in 15th place with 13 points. “The team was very unsettled in the first phase of the season, but that has improved significantly and visibly under Karel. The quality is undeniably there, this team is definitely strong enough to play a good role in the second division – even if not every single one of them meets expectations,” he said.

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