Darko Churlinov became a promotion hero at Schalke 04 and received thousands of fan messages. But negotiations about a possible return are stalling.

The year 2023 is almost over – it was (once again) a very turbulent one for FC Schalke 04. The hope of surprisingly staying in the Bundesliga was followed by relegation grief, the euphoria of the summer break, when all the talk was about promotion, was followed by the disappointment of a weak first half of the season.

The year 2024 begins on January 2 with a flight to the training camp in Portugal – coach Karel Geraerts would have liked to have already brought in new players. But that is unlikely to happen.

The number one candidate is winger Darko Churlinov, promotion hero of the 2021/22 season and still popular with the Royal Blues’ fans. Churlinov is still under contract with Premier League club FC Burnley until 2026, but is to be loaned out as he currently has no chance of a place in the professional squad.

However, negotiations are apparently at a standstill. The WAZ editorial team spoke to Churlinov’s advisor Mehmet Eser from the agency M-Soccermanagement about this