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S04 to begin working with international partner clubs
The Royal Blues are making a change to the pathway from the academy to the first team. As part of the new sporting structure at FC Schalke 04, the club will now begin working with international partner clubs. The aim is to allow young players for whom it is too early to make the leap into the first team to gain match practice at an appropriate level, and therefore help these youngsters to develop further. Both the partners and S04 will additionally benefit from an exchange of ideas and a joint network.
“Having partner clubs has been our plan for a long time, because there’s definitely potential for players to make the transition from the academy to the first team. The aim is to give talented players professional contracts and then allow them to pick up as much game time as possible at our partner clubs. We’re very happy to have made these plans reality and have made an important step forward in improving our squad,” said S04 CEO Matthias Tillmann, who revealed that “more partners are coming. We’ve been having conversations for quite a while.”
Having partner clubs has been our plan for a long time, because there’s definitely potential for players to make the transition from the academy to the first team.
The first partnership that has been contractually agreed is with Dutch second-division side VVV-Venlo. All sides will benefit from the partnership. “We’re happy that we’ve got VVV-Venlo as our first partner club for this project. We’ve had a lot of conversations with Venlo and we believe that we agree on a lot of things when it comes to our values and our goals of bringing through young players,” said Ben Manga, S04 director of squad planning, scouting and the Knappenschmiede youth academy. “It’s important for us to take a holistic approach to the development of our young players and to offer them the best opportunities to continue their development before they are able to break into our senior side. In return, partner clubs like Venlo benefit from the excellent training offered at the Knappenschmiede.” Furthermore, members of the club’s management will also engage in an exchange of information across various areas, such as scouting.
It’s important for us to take a holistic approach to the development of our young players and to offer them the best opportunities to continue their development before they are able to break into our senior side.
“We are extremely proud of our cooperation with FC Schalke 04, which will benefit both parties. We’re looking forward to the players that will end up strengthening our squad and that we will be able to provide with the means to continue their development in a professional setting. We have enjoyed strong relations between our clubs for several years now, which we will now look to strengthen further,” said Venlo sporting director Marc van Hintum.
In order for Schalke to ensure that the club’s on-loan players are well taken care of, there will be two persons specifically charged with caring for the players. “We want to act professionally, which is why it’s important to us that we have a contact person at the club that can accompany the players on their journey,” said Manga. “We are all looking forward to what lies ahead. We would like to thank Venlo for their cooperation and are looking forward to building something great.”
