On Wednesday, Rouven Schröder suddenly drew a line under the Schalke 04 chapter. It is still not exactly clear why he turned his back on the club so surprisingly. Now he is already associated with RB Leipzig.

On Wednesday afternoon, reporters who were on the Schalke grounds in Gelsenkirchen reported that Rouven Schröder made his way to the cabin. The obvious guess: he will tell the players that the new coach is still not there. Instead, the shock: the sports director gave up.

While the background is still somewhat diffuse and confusing, only one thing is clear: Schröder's exit is not a decision he made ad hoc. As Peter Knäbel and new coach Thomas Reis have now made clear, they knew about this process. At least that's how he must have considered his departure for weeks.

Now S04 is without a sports director. There is much speculation about the reasons. Basically, differences of opinion and a certain Schalke saturation as a combination seem to have been decisive.

But there is already speculation as to whether Schröder could become active again in the Bundesliga in winter. According to a report by Bild, a trail leads to Leipzig.

Max Eberl will soon be hired there as the new head of sports. It is clear to him that he wants to build a team at RBL and spread the tasks over several shoulders. The ex-Schalke player seems to be a candidate for this. In any case, both are said to have a good relationship.

Eberl had recently explained to WamS: "At the end of my time in Gladbach, Rouven Schröder was named. In 2019 (...) a change from Rouven to us was an issue. I spoke out against it at the time. In retrospect it was That's a mistake, because we could have spread the tasks over two more shoulders."

That shows an appreciation and mutual awareness - even if Eberl spoke out against the division of labor at the time. Remarkable: When his own exit, Eberl personally suggested Schröder as his successor. He knows what he has in him.

Eberl's plans for his new club are all the more exciting to read: "In the future, I will very consciously have a team around me in which the tasks are distributed, so that you consciously - to come back to an important finding - sometimes take it back can."

Schröder could also move into that team if Eberl has his way. At least according to the picture, that seems to be the intention. Oliver Mintzlaff, quasi-boss at the Saxons, already knows the 47-year-old very well. After all, he was a candidate in 2019 to replace the then-outgoing Ralf Rangnick.

This is how multiple tracks merge. Maybe there will be a reunion with royal blue this season.

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as a report: After Aus auf Schalke - Schröder ein Thema in Leipzig.