What Magath thought when he signed Raúl for Schalke: “Are you an idiot?”

Felix magath He remembers it like it was yesterday. The former German coach was one of the main culprits that Raúl González Blanco decided to end his time at Real Madrid in 2010 to join the ranks of Schalke 04. Eleven years later, Magath recalled the negotiations of what was once one of the most spectacular signings in the Bundesliga and has no doubt that the Madrid legend, in the not too distant future, will end up training the club of his life.

It all started when Christoph Metzelder, another ex-Madridista who joined the miners that same summer, asked Magath if he needed a striker and proposed to Raúl. “Are you crazy?” Magath replied. He thought it was a joke, as he recalled on the Phrasenmäher podcast. “I asked him if he was missing a screw, if he was crazy. I just thought: Raúl? But what are you telling me?”explained the coach, who is currently a club advisor.

But Metzelder insisted and told him that “he had spoken with Raúl and to call him to ask him.” Then, Magath stopped to think: “What will Raúl do? He no longer plays for Real Madrid and will not be able to change teams in Spain. England perhaps? As a striker in England, they would have turned his ankles purple. Italian football he was very defensive, there too he would have had his problems “. Therefore, Magath began to believe it and got “in touch with Raúl.”

Of course, not everything was a fairy tale when the operation was closed and Raúl changed the Bernabéu for Gelsenkirchen. “When he first trained with us, I was like, 'Oh my God, what have you done, asshole. Are you stupid?' He was not in very good physical condition.. But as a sportsman, he was an extraordinary one. Technically he was outstanding and his willingness to train was always exemplary. As a person and as a personality, he was exceptional. “

When asked about the future of the Madrid legend, his former manager has no doubts. “I have not met someone like him before. I have the utmost respect for him as a player and as a person. I am convinced that we will see him as a coach at Real Madrid in the not too distant future “, Magath stressed. At the moment, Raúl has a contract with Castilla, but he does not stop sounding as a possible successor to the questioned Zidane.