FC Schalke 04 has introduced two new faces to the team behind head coach Karel Geraerts. A goalkeeping coach and an assistant coach have arrived.

Two new assistant coaches for FC Schalke 04: Stephan Louboué has joined the club as goalkeeping coach, while Sidney Sam will be one of the assistant coaches. Former assistant coach Tim Smolders and athletics coach Alexander Stork are also part of the team. Royal Blue announced both appointments on Thursday, June 20.

Loboué most recently worked as goalkeeping coach at Raja Casablanca and won the championship with the Moroccan club. Prior to that, the former Ivory Coast international goalkeeper had been goalkeeping coach at Eintracht Frankfurt since 2015.

As an active player, the now 42-year-old made 81 appearances for SpVgg Greuther Fürth and SC Paderborn 07 in the second division, among others. “Stephan will bring new impetus to our training. He knows the league and has constantly developed as a goalkeeping coach over the past few years,” said Schalke’s head coach Karel Geraerts.

Another familiar face at Schalke will also be part of the coaching team: Sidney Sam played for the Royal Blues from 2014 to 2017. The 36-year-old was most recently assistant coach at MSV Duisburg. In addition to his five international caps for Germany, Sam has also played for Hamburger SV, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen, Darmstadt 98 and VfL Bochum.

In total, Sam has made 122 Bundesliga appearances, scoring 26 goals and providing 20 assists. The former international also knows the second division well from 101 appearances (16 goals, 18 assists). He has also played in international competitions such as the Süper Lig (25 games, three goals), the Europa League (16 games, three goals, three assists) and the Champions League (15 games, three goals, two assists).

Karel Geraerts commented on the personnel matter as follows: “Sidney will work closely with the players and share his experience. With his support, we can respond even better to the individual needs of each player. “