Schalke: Benito Raman makes once-daunting situation manageable

Schalke’s striker situation is a well-known need, but with Benito Raman at the club, that need has shrunk from dread to manageable.

Schalke is known for their ability to find remarkable talent in ordinary places, and in no place is that better seen than their centerback situation, where they’ve pulled the likes of Naldo, Salif Sane, Benjamin Stambouli, and now Ozan Kabak from relative mediocrity to being internationally renowned. Jean-Claire Todibo was their high profile defensive name, and that’s just because he’s a Barcelona man.

But at striker, they’re still in their budding days of accomplishing the same. This year, they’ve gone through long-time Blue Guido Burgstaller, Mark Uth, Michael Gregoritsch, Benito Raman, Ahmed Kutucu, and Rabbi Matondo.

In the process, Mark Uth has moved on, Burstaller might be next, Gregoritsch is still a major question mark and Kutucu and Matondo are both incredibly exciting, but perhaps not ready just yet (though we’d make a case for Kutucu any day). But Raman? Raman is the one man among the heap that is making a daunting task doable.

Raman had a decent enough track record, bringing ten goals a season to a club that had troubles scoring consistent goals over the years and while it took him a couple of months to settle, once he did? Glory.

More from Release The Knappen

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• Schalke 04: Omar Mascarell the only boost between now and then
• Schalke 04: David Wagner just has to make it to the end of the season
• Schalke 04: At least we still have Weston McKennie

Raman has brought a whole new element to the Schalke attack, particularly the counterattack, that makes every single ball over the top a threat on goal. It’s not just speed that does that, it’s competence on the ball and a superb finishing ability. Raman is a stone-cold scorer, and when Die Knappen does start to put some more pieces of the puzzle together, Raman is going to be the guy to see his goal tally go from ten a year to 15. There’s no way around it. You don’t prove yourself that big of a threat to goal and then not blossom among a blossoming attack.

With Ahmed Kutucu and Rabbi Matondo both blossoming into excellent attackers, Raman has company not dissimilar to him, but it’s in the primary striker role that can see Raman blossom, which is why I’ve practically lost my mind of links to Arkadiusz Milik. Look what he’s done with Insigne, Mertens, and Callejon and picture it with Matondo, Kutucu, and my man Raman. Just sumptuous.

The pieces are here, they just need a pillar to orbit around. And Raman was the first real step towards solidity. I can’t wait for the next.