Edin Džeko: I’m still hungry for more

Edin Džeko on…

…being back at Schalke:
I’m really happy to be back here. The last six months were very special and the club embarked on a very positive path. My first few days back have been a little busy, what with the medical and the media day, but I’m back with the team, which is the most important thing.

…his reasons for returning to the Royal Blues for another season:
I still want to play football and I’m still hungry for more. I’m convinced that I still have something to offer to Schalke and that I can help the team. If I didn’t feel that way, then I would have just extended my holiday. My wife and kids also said to me that I should keep playing. They will now move to Germany to join me.

…his fitness levels:
After a holiday, every player needs a bit of time to get back into the swing of things. I did put in the work to prepare during my holiday and did a lot of running. I’ll be training individually during my first week back at Schalke, and then my goal is to train with the team again.

…the talks held over the past weeks:
I took part in many talks, obviously ones involving our head coach Miron Muslic, Frank Baumann [board member for sport], Youri Mulder [director of professional football] and Max Lüftl [director of scouting and transfer], but also with several players. To put it like this, it was nearly everyone. From the start, my plan was to come back, which has now worked out. I had other options available to me over the summer, but I really just wanted to keep playing for Schalke.

…playing in the Bundesliga:
The Bundesliga is obviously a step up from the second division. But, we have several good players and a good coaching staff as well. Now, it’s about making sure we’re well prepared. It obviously won’t be easy as a promoted side, especially against some of the big teams where we’ll need to be patient. But I’m 100 per cent convinced that we will be ready when it’s time and that we’ll try to not give up any points at the VELTINS-Arena.

…his personal goals ahead of the 2026/27 season:
Even when I was younger, I never set any specific targets, such as how many goals I wanted to score. The most important thing is that I stay healthy, as that’s how I’ll be able to help the team. It doesn’t matter if that’s by contributing goals, assists or anything else.

…the match he’s most looking forward to:
I had been looking forward to coming up against my former club, VfL Wolfsburg, but that’s obviously not possible. Other than that, I’m looking forward to coming up against former teammates. For example, Vincent Kompany, one of my former teammates at Manchester City, is now in charge of FC Bayern München. Marcel Schäfer is in Leipzig now and Christian Gentner is in a management role at VfB Stuttgart – we all won the Bundesliga together back in the day. I’m also looking forward to coming up against my strike partner with Bosnia, Ermedin Demirovic.