Simon Terodde: Bundesliga 2's Robert Lewandowski fuelling Schalke's hopes of immediate return

Terodde does have Bundesliga experience, with 10 goals in 58 German top-flight outings spread across spells with Cologne and VfB Stuttgart, but it is in the second tier where he has made a name for himself, and drawn comparisons with the world's top goalgetter.

With 142 goals in 253 games, Terodde is to Bundesliga 2 what Lewandowski is to the Bundesliga: a goal machine. Twenty four of those came last season for Hamburg, although they were ultimately not quite enough to earn the northern Germany side promotion back to the big time. Having swapped the Red Shorts for the Royal Blues this summer, Terodde is keen to ensure his goals earn him a fourth crack at Bundesliga football in 2022/23.

"I grew up in the district of Borken and when a club like Schalke come calling, it's hard to say no," Terodde said. "I don't want to listen to such an offer in ten years' time, but take this chance now, in a difficult time for the club.

"I basically got the feeling that the club really value me, and that they really want me - that made it an easy decision for me."

Terodde did not waste any time showing his new employers what he is all about either, netting a hat-trick in their first warm-up fixture ahead of the new season. That is hardly surprising, though, for a player who needs no orientation advice for when it comes to finding the goal. The first five of his career came in seven appearances in the Oberliga Nordrhein for Duisburg, with whom he had netted a league-high 21 goals in the U19 Bundesliga West as an 18-year-old.

In three years out on loan at Union Berlin, he got his right boot warmed up with 23 goals in Bundesliga 2, but it was in Bochum where he sharpened his aim, scoring 16 goals in 2014/15 before moving into Lewandowski spheres a year later with 25 in 33 games. The same number of goals, from one fewer game, saw him give Stuttgart a leg-up into the Bundesliga a year later, but after struggling to emulate his heroics in the top flight, he was back on the prowl in his preferred habitat with Cologne, delivering the best season of his career: 29 goals in 33 games.

After another tilt at the top table, with three goals for Cologne, he roared back to Bundesliga 2 with 24 goals in 33 games for HSV - not quite enough for promotion, but proof - if more were needed - that Terodde is Bundesliga 2's Lewandowski, and the man Schalke can count on to fire them straight back to the Bundesliga next season.