FC Schalke 04 2026/27 season preview: Transfers, pre-season, predicted lineup and predictions

It has been a gradual rise of sorts for Nordrhein-Westfalen club FC Schalke 04, who relegated from the Bundesliga in 2022/23 – just five years after a second-place finish to FC Bayern München. But after three years of playing in the second division of German football, Die Königsblauen are back in the top flight, and will look to return to their past Bundesliga form – surprising pundits and fans that may have written them off going into the new campaign.

Under 43-year-old Austrian-Bosnian manager Miron Muslić, the club reached the top of 2. Bundesliga in 2025/26 – finishing eight points above second-place SV 07 Elversberg with a 21-7-6 record and 70 points, with a +19 goal differential (50-31). It was a remarkable rise from the previous season, which saw them fourteenth with exactly half of the point total and just three points from the 2. Bundesliga – 3. Liga promotion-relegation playoff.

With a squad of 30 players – 24 of which are returning from last season – Schalke bring experience to this new campaign, with the second-oldest squad in the Bundesliga (average age 27.0, only behind 1. FSV Mainz 05 at 27.8) and quite a few players that were part of other Bundesliga sides in the past. The primary goal is to survive relegation and then build from there in 2027/28, but in a city that continuously exceeds expectations, Schalke definitely want to exceed their own.

Preseason Preparations

Schalke played seven friendlies against teams from all over the world in their preseason campaign, finishing with an overall record of 4-0-3. Their four victories came against Regionalliga Nordost side FC Erzgebirge Aue (4-2, 19. July), Ukrainian Premier League side FC Kharkiv (2-0, 22. July), J1 League side Fagiano Okayama (3-1, 25. July), and Regionalliga Südwest side KSV Hessen Kassel (5-0, 1. August).

Their three defeats were against respectable opponents: Regionalliga West side FC Gütersloh (1-2, 11. July), Serie A side Atalanta BC (0-3, 8. August), and one of the top club teams in the world, LaLiga side Real Madrid CF (0-3, 16. August). Overall, their preseason campaign finished with a positive goal differential of +4 – 15 goals scored, 11 conceded.

On Monday, they took part in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, avoiding what would have been a stunning early exit away to Regionalliga Nordost side Hallescher FC in extra time. Thanks to an equaliser from Niclas Stierlin for the hosts, an extra 30 minutes were forced, but Moussa Sylla and Junior Adamu scored in the first half of extra time to put Schalke back in the lead – followed by the icing on the cake, an Edin Džeko penalty in the twenty-seventh minute.

Transfers

Compared to the offseasons of other Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga teams, Schalke were very conservative on their spending in the summer transfer window – with permanent move expenses amounting to only €2.65 million.

The most expensive of these moves was €1 million, for 23-year-old Japanese defensive midfielder Satoshi Tanaka from Fortuna Düsseldorf; the club also acquired 25-year-old Cameroonian-French right midfielder Junior Dima Ebimbe from Eintracht Frankfurt for €800 000, 25-year-old Austrian centre-forward Junior Adamu from SC Freiburg for €800 000, and 35-year-old German goalkeeper Kevin Müller from 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 for € 50 000.

32-year-old German left-back Robin Gosens entered the club on a loan transfer from ACF Fiorentina, while 28-year-old Austrian centre-back Maximilian Wöber arrived from Leeds United FC on a free transfer.

Five players saw their loan contracts with other clubs expire, thus returning them to Schalke: 21-year-old German goalkeeper Luca Podlech from Norwegian side Aalesunds FK, 21-year-old Cameroonian centre-back Steve Noode from Luxembourgish side Union Titus Pétange; 21-year-old Uruguayan-Spanish defensive midfielder Marco Zalazar from Portuguese side SC Braga; 22-year-old Belgian-Polish right-back Martin Wasinski from Belgian side RFC Lüttich; and 23-year-old French-Algerian winger Ilyes Hamache from French side Amiens SC. From there, Podlech was loaned back to Aalesunds; Noode was demoted to the Schalke second team, as was Zalazar; Wasinski saw a move to the Netherlands and Almere City FC; and Hanache’s contract expired, so he moved to SC Cambuur in the Netherlands for €200 000.

In addition, two players from the Schalke academy signed their first professional contracts: 18-year-old German right midfielder Mika Wallentowitz, and 19-year-old German defensive midfielder Luca Vozar. Wallentowitz was loaned to SpVgg Greuther Fürth almost immediately after the agreement, gaining valuable experience in 2. Bundesliga; Vozar appears to be remaining with the main squad until further notice.

In terms of departures, other than the Hanache transfer mentioned above, all others were loans or contract expiries that have not materialised into free transfers for the respective players. Loan-wise, 22-year-old Argentine-Italian centre-back Felipe Sánchez moved to Santos Laguna in Mexico; 20-year-old German centre-forward Peter Remmert moved to MSV Duisburg; and, as mentioned earlier, Martin Wasinski and Luca Podlech moved to Almere City FC and Aalesunds FK respectively. 24-year-old Senegalese left-back Moussa Ndiaye moved back to Belgian side RSC Anderlecht following the expiry of his loan with the club.

Zalazar and Noode demoted to the second team, alongside 20-year-old Togolese-German winger Zaid Tchibara and 33-year-old Czech centre-back Tomáš Kalas. 32-year-old Ghanaian-German winger Christopher Antwi-Adjei and 26-year-old German right-back Henning Matriciani are both free agents following the expiry of their contracts.

Predicted Starting Lineup

Depending on the circumstance, Miron Muslić’s side has the option of using a flat 4-3-3, as they did for the late portion of their 2. Bundesliga campaign, or a 3-4-2-1, with the two wing midfielders moving to the back line in highly defensive situations. The latter will be used for this season’s predicted lineup, as Schalke are set to face stronger opposition than last season.

40-year-old Bosnian striker and former Bundesliga champion himself with VfL Wolfsburg (2009), Edin Džeko, will be on the bench in this scenario, as are Tanaka, Gosens, Wöber, and a few other players that could provide some depth to the squad. 33-year-old German goalkeeper Loris Karius, who has had a return to good form in 2. Bundesliga after being the reserve goalkeeper for Newcastle United FC, has solidified his place between the sticks.

The bulk of the pressure that Schalke will face this season rests on 28-year-old Denmark-born Turkish international Hasan Kuruçay, 29-year-old Bosnian international centre-back Nikola Katić, and 29-year-old German centre-back Timo Becker – who will have some tough tests ahead against opponents like Dortmund or Bayern, and may have to rely on a tight, centralised form of defending to withstand the pressure inside the box, with 21-year-old German left-back / left midfielder Vitalie Becker and Austrian right midfielder Dejan Ljubičić able to cover the wings when necessary.

Predicted lineup (3-4-2-1): Karius – Kuruçay, Katić, T. Becker – V. Becker, El-Faouzi, Schallenberg, Ljubičić – Aouchiche, Karaman – Sylla.

Predictions for the Upcoming Season

Due to some financial debts, Schalke are running on a limited budget, and as a result, they have the third-lowest market value of any squad in the Bundesliga at €67.33 million, ahead of only SV 07 Elversberg (€59.10 million) and SC Paderborn 07 (€43.43 million). A full €49.82 million behind fifteenth-place Hamburger SV (€117.15 million), Schalke covers only 1.33 % of the overall market value of Bundesliga teams in this campaign.

However, surviving the Bundesliga when you are one of only three teams with a market value of under €100 million is not impossible. 1. FC Union Berlin (€82.05 million), FC Augsburg (€93.05 million), and DSC Arminia Bielefeld (€56.73 million) all managed this feat in 2020/21 – with Union finishing seventh and qualifying for a European place, Augsburg finishing thirteenth, and Bielefeld finishing fifteenth.

Schalke has a good amount of depth to make a realistic finish between thirteenth and fifteenth, but it is how they perform in matches against the likes of Elversberg, Paderborn, Hamburg, and SV Werder Bremen that will ultimately decide whether they stay in the German top-tier after three years away.