FRANCO DI SANTO COPING AT SCHALKE 04

The Italian club Schalke 04, penned a deal with Franco Di Santo on 25th of July, 2015 from Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen after the activation of a release clause in his contract and having passed medical tests, the former Chelsea man was officially declared a Schalke player in the evening, in time to meet with his new teammates for a three-day training camp from Sunday.


The four-year deal with the Gelsenkirchen club came on the heels of his exit from Bremen, whose director of sport Thomas Eichin was critical of the manner by which his agent treated them.

The 27-year old had only one year remaining on his contract in Bremen and tried to extend the deal, but Eichin alleged that Di Santos’ agent kept them waiting without any tangible reason.

“He assured us and we concluded that he would notify us about his decision dearly enough if he would like to stay with us or leave,” Eichin told Bremen supporters at the Weser Stadion. Continue reading “FRANCO DI SANTO COPING AT SCHALKE 04”

Franco Di Santo Starts Making an Impression in Schalke Team

Franco di Santo is in danger of being a forgotten man in the Bundesliga after his move to Schalke did not provide him with enough first-team opportunities.


However, this has changed in recent weeks with the player getting substantial amount of action. Incredibly, he is still waiting for his first goals of the season despite having appeared in five games. His contribution primarily has been in other areas of the pitch like bringing others into play. After having played regularly in the last few weeks, Di Santo showed a lot of promise by coming up with two assists in the last game against Mainz.

It was always going to be difficult for the former Chelsea striker to feature ahead of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar when it comes to games. The Dutch international is clearly the first choice when it comes to leading the line-up. However, Di Santo has been appearing in a mixture of roles over the last few weeks. Even though he has been picking up some yellow cards with a fair amount of consistency, his two assists against Mainz very important in achieving the 3-0 win. Schalke are going through a difficult moment after having managed only one win prior to the victory against Mainz. Continue reading “Franco Di Santo Starts Making an Impression in Schalke Team”

CHELSEA SET TO BEGIN NEW ERA

Chelsea have headed into every season of recent as one of the top contenders for glory in the Premier League.


This time is a little different being a new era at Stamford Bridge. The arrival of new boss Antonio Conte marks a different era, with the Italian being the 10th different manager in the Roman Abrahimovich period.

There might be less pressure to win titles from the very first season, results are expected nonetheless. Chelsea won the league in brilliant fashion in the 2014/14 season with Jose Mourinho. Just a year later, despite being favourites to retain the crown, Chelsea were 16th and close to relegation within a few months. They finally finished at the edge of the top ten, one of the lowest for a defending champion of the Premier League. After the turbulent year, only two players have been recruited so far. N’Golo Kante arrived from Leicester City and Michy Batshuayi from Olympique Marseille. The Foxes will miss Kante as he was a major force when they lifted the title in the last campaign. Conte will switch to a system that allows two strikers, so Batshuayi would be a key player.
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Franco Continues Second Season With Schalke

At the training camp that Schalke had Leon Goretzka along with Franco di Santo stood out in the opening match.


The game was against the first division of China. Franco di Santo was a scorer in the training camp. Both the teams had much to say about the state of the grounds before the game started off between Schalke and R&F. The game was, however, a lively one; there were frequent drink breaks as the humidity levels were too great. The match was broadcasted live and was a major match watching among the Chinese audience.

Goretzka received a large cup as he and the others, including Franco, put in their contributions to the game. There were goals scored by Franco di Santo along with others. The match that was played by Schalke with R&F saw the former team start off with an advantage. Schalke team played on the defensive most of the time in the game. Franco has decided to continue for a second season with the club. Indeed, with his participation in Bundesliga the Argentine definitely came under pressure. Continue reading “Franco Continues Second Season With Schalke”

Franco Looks Forward To A Second Season At Schalke

Franco Di Santos is a player of great skills, but often individual competencies get clouded over if the team is unable to perform well together.


The first season in Argentina has been inconsistent though that should not keep the mood of the players down. The Argentine has had about 25 appearances and he has scored about 2 goals in the Bundesliga. He had a previous stint in Bremen where he needed some time for starting up. The first year that he spent at Weser he was able to gain about four goals. The new sporting director of Schalke has confirmed that Santo will continue in the second season as well. He feels that the player will be able to gain momentum in the second season at the club. The confidence is sure to help the 27 years old players to play better in the forthcoming season. He has thus gained a second chance and hopefully he would be starting a new era at the club. The opportunity is being given to him to improve and to be an imposing player for the team.
Continue reading “Franco Looks Forward To A Second Season At Schalke”

Analyzing the possible football destinations of Franco di Santo

Franco Di Santo had a prolific season with Werder Bremen as he scored 13 goals in 26 appearances during his last season performing with the German club.

It was because of this impressive campaign that Schalke 04 opted to sign Franco Di Santo for a transfer fee of €6 million.


Unfortunately for Schalke 04, Franco Di Santo has not been able to replicate his performances and the Argentine player is being linked away with a move away from the club that he joined back on July of 2015.

The 27 year old forward is a on and off player as he consistently gets playing time with Schalke 04 but most of that playing time is as a substitute player as Franco Di Santo is mostly being used as a backup option more than anything else.

When Franco Di Santo joined Schalke 04 on July 25 of 2015, the Argentine attacker penned a 4 year contract with the Bundesliga club and even though his debut season with Schalke 04 has not been impressive, there is a chance that he continues with the club for another season, taking into consideration that his deal still continues rolling on for a few more years.

However, it does seem like the head coach of Schalke 04, Andre Breitenreiter has lost faith in Franco Di Santo and it’s why the Argentine player is being used mostly as a backup option instead of being a first team player. Continue reading “Analyzing the possible football destinations of Franco di Santo”