Schalke: Suat Serdar and 5 other players who need new contracts
By Josh Sippie
3. Salif Sane
Similar to Nastasic, but also completely different. Salif Sane only had a few good months to show the Bundesliga, and the world, that he is a top-tier centerback. His injury allowed for the rise of Ozan Kabak and the reestablishment of Matija Nastasic, but with Stambouli heading for the exit and Todibo unlikely to stay, Sane’s long-term stay becomes even more important.
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Sane and Kabak are now our two best centerbacks, with Nastasic in a very, very close third. That’s a great situation to be in and it’s a situation you don’t want to risk losing. So while Kabak is locked in until 2024 and safe for the time being, having no other centerbacks locked in for quite as long is a bit unnerving when thinking about what the future holds.
Sane’s contract runs up in 2022 like seemingly everyone else, but the scary part is that we run the risk of losing Sane and Nastasic in the same year. Now, if we can prolog Thiaw and add that to Kabak, that’s a fantastic place to be, but a bit of veteran elitism is never a bad thing to have.
Sane has that, so would anyone really be against seeing Sane’s contract with Schalke extended beyond 2022? Not I.