Earlier this week Schalke 04 announced the acquisition of German FIFA player Lukas Schmandt – better known as Idealz. 
The young player, who has already made quite a name for himself in the online community, joins a host of other pros at Schalke and becomes the team’s fourth FIFA player.
An article on the official FIFA site late last week discussed the new club format in next year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup, and included a quote from Schalke’s Head of Esports, Tim Reichert, who commented on scouting players. He said: “They must be ambitious but not be too old yet. They also need to have the right character.”
The signing of Schmandt was announced four days later. He’s a player who clearly fits the bill having recently qualified for the ESL Meisterschaft Playoffs which helped him grab the attention of Schalke coaches. One of those was Joshua Begehr, a former FIFA world champion and three-time European champion, who had this to say about Schmandt joining the club.
He said: “We are extremely proud to welcome another promising talent at Schalke. Lukas brings a lot of great ambitions, tight gameplay and tactical creativity to the table.
“Our approach towards developing esports professionals puts a lot of importance on mingling experienced players and newcomers, which we hope will allow Lukas to grow steadily and shape himself into one of Germany’s best FIFA players. I am absolutely thrilled to work with him!”
In his first outing in Royal Blue this weekend, Idealz has a tough debut with a game against Mohammed ‘MoAubameyang’ Harkous at the ESLM playoff games this weekend. You can watch this live on Twitch here, or be there in person in Duisburg on November 26th and 27th.
In other FIFA news this week, Stark Esports Agency signed up two more players in the form of Italian Fabio ‘UV lionel_10’ Denuzzo and German Marcel ‘Marlut96’ Lutz.
Esports Insider says: Schalke is one of the clubs that isn’t just involved in competitive gaming in FIFA but is leading the way; they have a number of players, an infrastructure and a dedicated coach. Schmandt has a bright future ahead of him, and the new Club format in the FIWC 2017 will be a great motivator.