FC Schalke 04’s U23 team has had a strong first half of the season and has good reason to hope for the Regionalliga West championship. A striker is now set to help them achieve that goal.

After 18 matches, FC Schalke 04 II sits just one spot behind league leader Fortuna Köln. In the remaining matches, coach Jakob Fimpel’s team could make another push and perhaps even earn promotion to the 3. Liga.

This winter signing is also expected to help: Alexander Guiddir will be hunting for goals for Schalke’s Regionalliga team effective immediately. The 19-year-old forward 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’s very fast and has a good instinct for the goal,” says Fimpel about his new player. “We want to help him continue his development and are delighted that he chose S04.”

Guiddir came up 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 a third-division club, 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. As of the winter break this season, the center forward has 16 goals and three assists in 13 competitive matches.

Regarding the goals for the remainder of the season, Fimpel said: “The guys should keep doing what they’ve been doing and approach the second half of the season with full confidence. Ultimately, it’s our job to help as many players as possible take the next step and prove themselves. It would be great if there were more examples like Paul Pöpperl.”

Who knows—maybe even 19-year-old Alexander Guiddir can prove himself to head coach Miron Muslic’s team by scoring goals in the Regionalliga. It wouldn’t be the first example of a player making the leap from Schalke’s youth system.