The German manager left Huddersfield Town during the season
David Wagner has agreed a return to football management, his first role since leaving Premier League club Huddersfield Town in January of this year.
The German coach will take over at Bundesliga club Schalke 04 from the summer onwards, replacing the sacked Domenico Todesco, who was sacked on 14 March after a run of seven winless league games and a 7-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League.
Wagner took over at the Terriers, who are now managed by his compatriot Jan Siewart, in 2015, and led them to promotion to the Premier League in May 2017.
They managed to stay up in their first season but following a summer of recruitment that saw little return, they struggled during the 2018/19 season, with the club sitting eight points adrift of safety by January.
Wagner left the club that month following talks with the board.
“I had no intention of sacking David this season,” club chairman Dean Hoyle said at the time. “Subsequently David – being the great man he is – came to us and made it clear that he needs a break from the rigours of football management.
“We discussed making that change immediately, but he also made it clear that he would give his all for the rest of this season before departing in the summer if we preferred. After a long discussion we all felt that David staying at the club until the end of the season was best, but we’ve kept discussions open and we all now feel that the time is right to part ways.”
His departure was met with shock from those within the club – both staff and supporters – and his move to Schalke will likely be received with positivity from those at the Gelsenkirchen side.
The Bundesliga side have experienced some topsy turvy seasons in recent years. They finished second behind Bayern Munich last season, an improvement on a 10th place finish which itself followed a fifth place finish.
