Although SV Elversberg went into the winter break with three bankruptcies in a row, the club from Saarland is the best newcomer in 9th place in the 2nd league table with 24 points. 2023 was the best calendar year in the SVE’s club history – crowned with the sensational promotion in the summer and some great games and victories in the first half of the season.
Elversberg competitor experiences horror in the first half of the season
A competitor from Elversberg coach Horst Steffen’s team, who was considered the top favorite for promotion alongside Hamburger SV before the season, has so far experienced a season of horror. And it could get worse. The traditional club FC Schalke 04 is still in a relegation battle after 17 match days. In numbers this means for the Royal Blues: 14th place, 20 points and a goal difference of 31:35.
As “Sport-Bild” recently reported, all Schalke player contracts are only valid for the first and second leagues. This passage is pre-written in the DFL’s standard contracts. If the contract is also to apply in the 3rd league, it would have to be recorded as an additional clause. However, according to the trade magazine, the Schalke bosses decided not to do so. “Even Keke Topp, the 19-year-old young striker whose contract was last extended until summer 2025, does not have this option,” it said. In plain language: In the event of relegation, FC Schalke is threatened with the departure of all players.
“It’s about the whole team”
For the majority of the Schalke team, the possibility of relegation was so far away that they didn’t even think about a third division clause. “Schalke contract hammer revealed – it’s about the whole team,” was the headline in “Sport-Bild”.
The seven most expensive players from FC Schalke 04
(Source: market value data from December 29, 2023 from transfermarkt.de)
The FC Schalke squad is one of the most expensive in the second division after that of HSV and Hertha BSC Berlin. Experts estimate the value of the S04 players at a total of 32.1 million euros. The Royal Blues’ seven most valuable kickers alone, such as Assan Quedraogo, Ron Schallenberg and Thomas Ouwejan, are worth 17.7 million euros, roughly as much as the entire 29-man squad at SV Elversberg (18.18 million euros).
“If the league actually goes down again after the season, S04 would be without players.”
Schalke has to play third-placed Hamburger SV in the next matchday on January 20th (8:30 p.m.) in the Veltins Arena, SV Elversberg will play against Hannover 96 in the Ursapharm Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m.
If the Royal Blues actually end up in a relegation zone on May 19, 2024, the 34th matchday, it would be a fiasco for Schalke. “Relegation to the 3rd league would have serious financial consequences. The team’s salary costs would probably have to be more than halved. It is questionable whether individual players would accept such losses,” wrote the trade journal Reviersport. “If the league actually goes down again after the season, S04 would be left without players.”
2024-01-02 14:55:31
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