Schalke boss: We can't afford mature stars
Schalke 04 are not in a position to sign mature stars according to the club's sporting director Christian Heidel.
Schalke 04 don't have the funds to sign star players in their best age, sporting director Christian Heidel says.
Instead, 'The Royal Blues' are one of many clubs today that focus on developing stars who are then snapped up by the world's biggest clubs.
"Anyone who believes Schalke 04 can simply buy mature stars hasn't noticed the development of the past 10 years. Stars only transfer to a handful of clubs - the other clubs develop stars," Heidel told Kicker.
During the summer, Schalke cashed in on Thilo Kehrer, who was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for €37 million, but also let both Leon Goretzka and Max Meyer leave for free as their contracts expired. Heidel is determined not to let something similar happen in the future.
"I'm very satisfied with the current contract situation at Schalke," Heidel told Kicker and added that only few contracts will run out in 2019.
"In addition to that, only a few of our players have exit clauses," he said.
In the summer, Schalke 04 spent a total of €53,7 million on new signings such as Sebastian Rudy, Suat Serdar and Omar Mascarell.