Champions of Europe

That’s right, within 6 months I’ve won Schalke the Europa League and secured Champions League football next season.

A massive result for the club beating Atalanta in extra time. In the league we pulled away from the relegation zone too, finishing 12th and Bochum survived.


We managed to draw what we could out of this squad but It needs a rebuild


Looking at this. We need two new Centre backs, A Defensive Midfielder and a Left Winger.

I looked into the squad and squad depth and we also need depth. With Champions League football next year as well we need options to rotate.


As you can see we have just 15 players, 3 of which are goalkeepers with players I want to keep for now.

We made a lot of sales over the summer and in total sold worth of players.
Armed with 6 months of worldwide recruitment focuses finding the best Under 23s I could find.


As you can see we spent €95m, (€21m net spend) Not all these signings are for now


First in the door was Italian midfielder De Felice, he’s dual footed with both being very strong, last season he scored and set up 5 at 19 years old in Serie C, A big jump in quality but his reports look great.


Next in was Zengin, the player my scouts said was the best German youngster and at 17 he has a lot of development left, A two-footed playmaking defensive midfielder.

Centre backs were a major need this summer and I think with the next two signings we have our pairing for the long term (barring them moving to bigger clubs)


Right-footed Capanda measures in at 6’3” after 4 years in Belgium at Genk making 80 appearances he has earnt a move to a bigger club.
Rosete our left-footed Mexican CB measures in at 6’1” another player whos made 80 appearances over 4 years for Pumas in Mexico and he’s only 18! He has 1 cap for the national team too.


Despite just 18 appearances in 3 years at ATM, my scouts ensure me he is a sure thing. An attacking centre midfielder he will be a rotation option with De Felice this season as they share being 3rd and 4th choice of the 4 CMs I have.


This one was my favourite one. He has just dominated Belgium at 20 years old, Winning Belgian young player of the Year, the best player in the League and best rookie in the League. And 3rd place in the list of next-gen players list. Last season he made 38 appearances scoring 9 and setting up 7. He will go straight in as my first choice LW.


Like De Felice, Alonso was highly rated but from a much lower division, at 20 and just €475k, I took a punt and with us not needing a RW now I loaned him back out.


With the defensive spot we were in a bit of a situation, Stiller is only 31 and performed well, Zengin at 17 is way too young and I’m also tracking Stiller’s long-term replacement (see below) So when the scouts highlighted 21-year-old Swedish international DM had a release clause of € 2.5m we moved for him.


Silva joins on a loan with an option to buy for €190k, My scouts wanted me to sign him but I wanted a closer look. A season here on loan will help us see if we should sign him.


20 year old Brazilian who has hardly played. But the scouts love him and we need a back up right back. €1.9m feels like another low fee low risk signing.


This is the long-term DM I mentioned above, he will join in January as his club wouldn’t sell now without a loan back until end of their season.


Wait, Dan! He is 27!
I Know
Wait haven’t we seen him before?
Yep, Last summer I signed him for Bochum after his 34-goal season in 3. liga. Bochum asked for my 3rd choice Striker on loan as a starter, I was happy to do that but it left me short of cover, so I went for Penterman as it opens up playing time for my player and he is happy to be a sub loan.


In January I signed Kestler but already the big clubs are scouting him so I’ve found his potential replacement already. He’s gone back out on loan for this season to ensure game time.

So after all that we now line up like this..


Now this season I want to enjoy the Champions League but finish in the European spots. We have to be mindful that we have had a high turnover and it’s a really young squad now.


We now have a 27-man squad, With a nice spread of ages. We haven’t stopped there though. We are still on the search for more young talent to snap up across the globe.