Schalke 04 is about to make a new personnel commitment clear. However, it is not a player.
Gelsenkirchen – FC Schalke 04 has, according to information from Kickers contractually agreed to work with Maximilian Lüftl. The 31-year-old is to take over the position of “Head of Scouting and Transfers” at S04.
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Lüftl is indirectly succeeding Ben Manga at Schalke 04. Unlike Manga, the B license holder is not placed at the director level. He should be linked directly to sports director Frank Baumann.
Lüftl’s core tasks are in the area of scouting and transfers for the professionals and the Knappenschmiede. S04 sports director Youri Mulder should still retain his role in squad planning.
Lüftl is actually tied to league rivals Hannover 96 until the end of the season. However, there could now be an early separation there. On Christmas Eve, Lower Saxony announced the signing of Jörg Schmadtke as sports director.
Schalke 04: Lüftl’s contract with Hannover 96 could end early
It is possible that an agreement will be reached in the coming days to terminate Lüftl’s contract early. Then the way would be clear for an earlier entry into the S04.
Either way: there is a lot of noise between Schalke 04 and the Passau native Kicker everything has already been sorted out. He should join the Revierklub by summer at the latest. He may then already be working at Bundesliga level.
Lüftl gained experience at St. Pauli, Hoffenheim and Hannover 96
Lüftl’s path to professional football began in the summer of 2018. At that time, he initially worked as a youth scout at FC Bayern Munich. Between 2019 and 2021 he worked as a scout for St. Pauli. He then moved to TSG Hoffenheim for a year, where he was responsible for youth scouting for the U17, U19 and U23 areas as coordinator.
He has been employed at Hannover 96 since February 2022. Lüftl initially acted as a squad planner for the second team, and was later promoted to head of the scouting department.
