Edin Dzeko has barely arrived at Schalke, and the fans are already showing their appreciation. It’s hard to imagine what will happen when he scores his first goal for S04.

Edin Dzeko has arrived at the airport, Edin Dzeko is at the hotel, Edin Dzeko undergoing his medical, Edin Dzeko at his first press conference at Schalke. Every step the new Schalke superstar takes into his royal blue world has been absorbed by the Knappen fans like sweet pollen.

Probably no news of a player signing since Señor Raúl has electrified FC Schalke 04 fans as much as that of Edin Dzeko. Despite years of sporting hardship—including four years in the second division over the past five seasons—the signing of the Bosnian international has catapulted S04 back onto the European soccer map in one fell swoop.

Suddenly, the Schalke lineup features two Champions League finalists: one with Loris Karius in goal and the other now with Edin Dzeko up front. What other second-division club can claim that? “Schalke is the coolest club in the world,” the fans love to sing in the arena. Now they believe it again.

Their love for their club has always remained the same; it has even grown during the toughest times. But that just makes it even more special. Will the 39-year-old really lead Schalke 04 to promotion? For now, it doesn’t matter.

The Schalke fans are actually surprisingly realistic and hope that things will work out as well as they did back then with Raúl. But Dzeko satisfies their longing for Europe, for better times. They hold it in high regard that a man like him chose their club, after everything that happened.

And they’ve been thanking him for it from day one. In the very first hours after his signing, several thousand Schalke jerseys bearing Dzeko’s name were sold, the club announced. Thousands. One of them—reportedly even the very first one—was bought by Sead Kolasinac, Dzeko explained at the press conference marking his debut. Kolasinac knows how much Schalke fans long for moments like these. He is one of them.