Schalke 04: 20 most expensive transfers in Schalke 04 history

13. Matija Nastasic—$10.45m

Matija Nastasic always had a ton of hype surrounding him, so when Schalke dumped this fee on a 22-year-old, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but the pressure was set. He needed to vindicate the price paid like he had not been able to early on in his carer.

Nastasic has been in and out of the operating room since joining up with Die Knappen, but overall, it’s hard to say many bad things about this move. While many guys on this list came and went, Nastasic is still here, he’s still earning his stay, and he remains a top-quality defensive option as long as he can stay healthy.

Not entering his prime years, Nastasic really rose to prominence serving alongside Ozan Kabak when both Sane and Stambouli went down with injuries early on in the 2019/20 season. But even before that, and most likely well after, he proved to be the kind of defender that, while not awe-inspiring, can be counted on to do the job.

For Schalke, you can’t have too many of those players. Money well spent here. Much the same coming up at No. 12.