FC Schalke 04’s U23 team has had a strong first half of the season and has high hopes of winning the Regionalliga West championship. A striker is now set to help them achieve this goal.

After 18 games, FC Schalke 04 II is just one place behind league leaders Fortuna Cologne. In the rest of the season, coach Jakob Fimpel’s team could make another push and perhaps even be promoted to the 3rd division.

This winter signing should also help: Alexander Guiddir will be hunting for goals for Schalke’s regional league team with immediate effect. The 19-year-old striker is transferring from Mittelrheinliga club SV Eintracht Hohkeppel to the Knappenschmiede. “Alexander is a young striker who scored numerous goals for Hohkeppel in the first half of the season. He is very fast and has a good eye for goal,” says Fimpel about his new player. “We want to help him in his development and are delighted that he has chosen S04.” Guiddir came through the U17 and U19 teams at Rot-Weiss Frankfurt. In 2024, the Frankfurt native moved to the A-youth team of SV Sandhausen, then in the third division, where he gained playing time in the U19 DFB youth league. Last summer, the 19-year-old joined Eintracht Hohkeppel, which had been relegated from the Regionalliga, in the Mittelrheinliga. In the current season, the center forward has scored 16 goals and provided three assists in 13 competitive games during the winter break. Regarding the goals for the rest of the season, Fimpel said: “The boys should continue as they have been doing and approach the second half of the season with full confidence. Ultimately, it is our job to ensure that many of the boys take the next step and prove themselves. It would be great if there were more examples like Paul Pöpperl.”

Who knows: maybe 19-year-old Alexander Guiddir can even recommend himself for head coach Miron Muslic’s team with goals in the Regionalliga. It wouldn’t be the first example of an internal jump at Schalke.