Amin Younes maintains his fitness at Schalke 04 Under 23. The German winger is currently free of charge after his contract with Saudi Al-Ettifaq was terminated last summer.

Younes hopes to regain football happiness in his native country. The now 30-year-old attacker signed with Al-Ettifaq in the summer of 2022. In his first season he was immediately loaned to FC Utrecht. In the summer of 2023, Younes decided to leave his club, for which he ultimately played nine games.

Like other clubs in the Saudi Pro League, Al-Ettifaq brought in several big names, such as Moussa Dembélé, Jack Hendry and Jordan Henderson. In addition, Steven Gerrard was appointed as the new trainer. The arrival of the big names seems to have accelerated Younes' departure from Al-Ettifaq.

“As the media can currently see on a daily basis, the club, or actually the entire league, is currently undergoing a complete restructuring and I have also decided to look for a new adventure again,” Younes wrote. “And then we'll see where and when the next adventure begins.”

That adventure may therefore lie in Gelsenkirchen, where regional pride Schalke 04 is having a hard time. The Royal Blue are currently thirteenth in the 2. Bundesliga. The gap to number sixteen Eintracht Braunschweig, which now has to enter the play-off virtually, is only two points. Kaiserslautern, number seventeen, has only three points less than Schalke.

Even if Younes manages to impress in training, he will in principle not be able to serve the club this season. The registration period for new players has expired. Yet there is hope. The players' union in Germany is doing everything it can to convince the German Football Association of an exceptional case.

Younes is best known in the Netherlands for his period at Ajax. The German with Lebanese roots particularly impressed in the Europa League campaign of the 2016/17 season. Partly thanks to Younes, Ajax reached the final, in which Manchester United proved too strong.

With four goals and four assists, Younes was an important player in the attack of then coach Peter Bosz. For example, in the return of the quarter-final against Schalke 04, Younes made it 3-2 in extra time, after Nick Viergever had scored a crucial goal for the Amsterdam team moments earlier. Younes played exactly one hundred games for Ajax, in which he scored 17 goals and 25 assists.

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