Schalke 04 signs Austrian defender Maximilian Wöber on free transfer; he played only 35 minutes last season

BILD exclusively reported on Wednesday that Schalke 04 is signing Maximilian Wöber (28) on a free transfer from Leeds United. The center-back has been given a one-year contract — and there may be a compelling reason behind the short-term deal.

A Troubling Injury Record

Last season, the former Austrian international was on loan at Werder Bremen — where he was almost exclusively injured.

Out of a possible 3,060 minutes of Bundesliga playing time, Wöber managed just 35 minutes on the pitch, appearing only twice as a late substitute. In plain terms: Wöber completed a mere 1.1 percent of the available playing time.

This raises the obvious question: What does Schalke want with "one-percent Wöber"?

Muslic Breaks with His Own Philosophy

The signing is particularly surprising given that for head coach Miron Muslic (43), a player's "availability" is a critical criterion. The Austrian coach recently sent Tomas Kalas (33) down to the reserves permanently, precisely because the Czech defender had been injured too often in the past.

So why is Muslic making an exception for Wöber?

BILD spoke directly to the Schalke coach about this apparent contradiction.

Muslic explained: "The feeling for Max is completely different. He fits perfectly into our playing idea. The way we play football suits him. His strengths are Schalke's strengths. He has proven at an international level that he can do it. With Kurucay, Katic, Ayhan, and Becker, we still have four top center-backs, so the risk is not that great. We will give everything to make it work with him – then it can be really cool, really, really exciting with him."

It remains to be seen how many minutes Wöber can actually play — though anything more than his Bremen tally would be a welcome improvement.

Source: BILD / IG: zeitungsmax22.07.2026

A Potential Asset in the Dressing Room

Muslic continued: "Max naturally brings a risk with him, but we also see the opportunity. We already proved last season that we can take in players who come from a difficult situation and prepare them so that they can perform well. The best example is Loris Karius. The skepticism was also very, very great with him. The supposed risk was there with Loris too. But we saw the potential. And we want to take exactly this path with Max."

According to those close to the situation, Wöber is regarded as a genuinely pleasant person and a positive influence on the dressing room atmosphere.

Muslic added: "That was also a factor: not just the player profile, but also his character, his personality. We can benefit from him. But we didn't bring him in for the dressing room, we brought him in to help us on the pitch."

And hopefully, for Schalke, that means more than just 35 minutes next season.