Schalke sporting director Frank Baumann has insisted it was crucial for them to pay a free to get Miron Muslić out of Plymouth Argyle.
SportBILD have an interview with him today. He backs paying a fee to get Muslic in as manager at the end of May.
Baumann only arrived as the German club’s sporting director in June. He was tasked with uniting the club and turning them from crisis-ridden to promotion contenders. That is something he has managed so far.
Key to it was appointing the right manager. His first choice was Muslic, who was at Plymouth at the time. Schalke, though, had to pay €700,000 to get him from the English club. That is a considerable sum, to say the least, and raised eyebrows at the time.
Muslic, though, had impressed at Plymouth, implementing a high intensity, aggressive passing style that earned admirers despite them eventually being relegated.
He’s done the same at Schalke, leading them to the top of the 2. Bundesliga, four points clear of Elversberg behind them.
Paying the fee for Muslic appears to have been a smart choice. Baumann insists it was crucial that they did so.
“For us, it was crucial that we find the best possible solution for the most important position in the club,” he said.
“Even before I signed with Schalke, I asked the supervisory board whether there was a budget for a coach’s transfer fee. You could already sense a certain scepticism from some of them, perhaps because they hadn’t always had good experiences with it.
“I can understand that, but if you’re convinced, then you have to pursue that path decisively. I stipulated that I would have to make the sporting decisions myself. And that we, as the board, would spend the available budget as we saw fit.
“And I quickly realized that we couldn’t use that money for player transfers. But that wasn’t a reason for me to abandon the idea.”
