“Matija Nastasic is Mr Reliable. He’s calm, solid and tough-tackling. He’s a very important player for Schalke and Domenico Tedesco. We’re delighted that Matija sees his future at Schalke,” stated sporting director, Christian Heidel. On Schalke’s number 1, he added: “Ralf Fährmann went 13 games without conceding in the Bundesliga last season, Ralle want to stay at Schalke until the end of his career if possible.” The captain’s contract extension is a clear signal.

The Chemnitz born goalkeeper is a true product of the Knappenschmiede. He joined Schalke’s youth set-up at the age of 14 and first joined up with the first team squad for the 2007/2008 season. As Fährmann was only able to make three Bundesliga appearances while number 2 to Manuel Neuer, he opted to move to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2009. After two years there, he returned to the Royal Blues. The 29-year-old has made 161 Bundesliga appearances, played in 13 DFB-Pokal ties and made 33 appearances in Europe for Schalke 04.

Nastasic joined Schalke from Manchester City in January 2015. The Serbia international has featured 63 times in the Bundesliga in a Royal Blue shirt for the Knappen as well as seven DFB-Pokal games and twelve European games.