FC Schalke 04 reportedly have interest in Stoke City center midfielder Badou Ndiaye, who could end up replacing Nabil Bentaleb as a veteran backup at the center of the park.
The Royal Blues have an outside shot at winning the Bundesliga in 2019-2020, and while they are very much underdogs in comparison to the likes of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, they are absolutely in the hunt. FC Schalke 04 currently sit in fourth place, and their success is largely thanks to a strong defense and a world-class midfield.
Holding midfielder Omar Mascarell has been brilliant this season, Suat Serdar has been a breakout star, Weston McKennie is a hard-working presence in the center of the pitch, Daniel Caligiuri brings experience with a quality final ball, and Amine Harit has been arguably the best player in the league.
But Schalke are still interested in potentially adding a veteran midfielder, as they are reportedly among the teams interested in Stoke City’s 29-year-old Badou Ndiaye.
Currently playing for the 22nd-placed team in the EFL Championship, Ndiaye has actually put together some solid statistics so far in the season. Per WhoScored.com, he is completing 85% of his passes with 1.2 dribbles per game on offense. Defensively, Ndiaye has a whopping three tackles per game and 1.5 interceptions per game.
Ndiaye’s peak came three years ago in the Turkish league, as he once scored 11 goals in a season and was dynamite on the ball. Now, the Senegal international’s main contributions are defensive, which would be redundant for Schalke. They already have two midfielders who primarily contribute with their hard work on defense in Mascarell and McKennie.
Per the report, Ndiaye also has interest from Mainz in the Bundesliga, and they would seem to be a much better fit for the player due to their holes in midfield. They could use a player with Ndiaye’s all-around ability, even if he isn’t at his peak.
Schalke have enough veteran options, so if they want to purchase anybody, they should prioritize younger players at other positions. Ndiaye would come cheap, though, and has a history of being an effective midfielder. If Schalke do end up replacing Nabil Bentaleb after treating the injured player unfairly, Ndiaye could make more sense. He’s long been an underrated player and could be an interesting partner for Serdar in the center of the park.