Schalke 04 are not frequenters of many transfer rumors, but Kevin Stoger has emerged as a target, and this move works on three crucial levels.
Schalke‘s transfer season is still a complete question mark, with even David Wagner admitting that, thanks to the pause, nothing can go forward until they figure out what’s in the immediate future. Which means that transfer rumors have been exclusively limited to… Arkadiusz Milik and Kevin Stoger.
But even as the only two, there is plenty to be excited about. I’ve spent articles upon articles exploring the Milik possibility alone, and now it’s time to turn that attention to Kevin Stoger, the Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder.
Of course, Schalke would be double-dipping in the Dussedorf talent pool, having acquired Benito Raman from them last summer. Raman has been a tremendous asset to the club and, once we spruce up the attack a bit more, it stands to reason that he will pop even better. He has added so much to this attack and with a few more pieces in place, who knows what could happen.
Schalke 04 and Kevin Stoger look destined to be together
As for Kevin Stoger though, this is an astute signing on multiple levels. There’s really not a missed level at all, as he hits on three major levels that Schalke need to pay attention to with each and every transfer.
Stoger is 26-years-old, in the prime of his career, he is in danger of being relegated with Dusseldorf, and he’s been a largely forgotten commodity this year because of injuries. The time has never been better to go grab him.
So let’s talk about why.
3. Financially
Since we know very little about what Die Knappen will have available to them in the coming transfer window, the fact that Kevin Stoger is out of contact this summer and is free to join whoever he wants for free makes him about as attractive of a signing as he can possibly be. He may not be a huge, high impact addition, but he also just might be. The fact that he has such a low risk makes the payoff much easier to achieve.
Moving on to level No. 2.