Although Schalke 04 was able to easily reduce the huge mountain of debt, they still need a lot of money. The focus is on three approaches that are intended to provide financial relief.
Schalke published the business figures for the previous calendar year on Tuesday. A year that was spent half in a hopeless relegation battle and the other half in league two – and that in the midst of the corona restrictions, ergo without ticket income.
And yet there was good news: the large mountain of debt was reduced somewhat by far-reaching savings measures, by EUR 33.5 million to EUR 183.5 million. An important intermediate goal for Royal Blue.
This step was achieved, among other things, through the sale of the coveted League of Legends license and the significantly reduced budget of the professional team.
Of course, the financial situation is by no means relaxed. So it is not enough to further reduce the debt significantly. After all, the club must remain capable of acting and be able to get through day-to-day business without any noticeable restrictions.
Since the club would like to do without the support brought into play by Hans-Joachim Watzke and continue to stay afloat on its own, important approaches are needed to realize this wish. Loud image the focus is therefore on three aspects that CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers can focus on in particular.
The first and most topical point is the absorption of the Gazprom sponsorship. With nine million euros, S04 got very good money, the new housing provider Vivawest, who has stepped in in the meantime, only pays about half. But: “Several potential financiers,” according to the report, are said to have come forward to close the difference. So it is “quite possible” that another deal will be announced soon.
An important step to close the unplanned money gap as much as possible. But that’s not all: Important player sales are also on the agenda.
Amine Harit and Ozan Kabak are the focus. Already last summer, both were considered the great financial hope of the miners. In the end there were no buyers, so a loan and the salary savings had to be enough for both.
It is currently unlikely that they will be signed to Norwich City and Olympique Marseille. Norwich would have to hold the class for the purchase obligation, which it does not look like at the moment. Harit has not played much in France so far, he will return for the time being. In the summer an attempt will then be made to finally give up both.
As a third approach, another bond will come soon. It is said to have a volume of around 34 million euros, while Schalke is loud image hopes for ten to 15 million euros.
