Sporting director Rouven Schröder fills key first-team positions

Gerald Asamoah has been part of the Professional Performance Centre (PLZ) since the beginning of March, where he was responsible for organisational procedures and acted as a liaison between the board, the coaching team and the team. The former U23s coach will devote his full workload to the first team and will report directly to Rouven Schröder. “Asa knows all there is to know about Schalke from his time here as a player and as U23s coach. It was clear to me from the beginning that he is someone that I want to have in the team,” said Schröder as he discussed the ex-player and experienced U23s coach. “Together with the head coach, he will be main point of contact in the PLZ. I’m looking forward to working with him as we move forward.”

That is a sentiment that also applies to Jörn Menger. The qualified sports scientist worked as fitness coach for the first team at VfL Bochum most recently and joins the Royal Blues as fitness director. In this position, the 42-year-old will be chiefly responsible for prevention and performance diagnostics with the overriding goal of developing the team’s aerobic performance. “Jörn has done an outstanding job in Bochum over the last few years. His professional qualities are undisputed and we have great confidence in him to make progress in terms of fitness and rehabilitation,” explains Rouven Schröder.

Meanwhile in the scouting department, S04’s new sporting director is looking forward to working with an old colleague from his days at Mainz. André Hechelmann is taking over as chief scout/ head of scouting at Schalke and will therefore be responsible for the same duties as he had with the Zerofivers. The 36-year-old trained as a banker and also successfully completed studies in the fields of business administration and sports management. “The fact that we have been able to convince André to join Schalke makes me happy on both a professional and a personal level. He brings a wide network of contacts and a lot of experience and expertise with him. Together with the existing team around Fabio Casalnuovo, who approaches his work with an incredible amount of heart and commitment, he will lead the development of the various areas of modern scouting at S04. In this way, we will be able to make the right decisions in terms of transfers together for the good of the club.”