Robin Gosens Returns to Schalke 04 After Fiorentina Exit
Robin Gosens pushed out at Fiorentina and sent back to his boyhood Schalke 04, still asking: why?
The full-back has left Florence with a mixture of gratitude and open wound, completing a move to Schalke after being told in blunt terms that he no longer featured in the plans of new coach Fabio Grosso.
Frozen out, then forced out
Gosens, under contract with Fiorentina until June 2028, did not walk away by choice. He was frozen out of the squad, instructed not to report for pre-season, effectively erased from the dressing room before a ball was kicked under the new regime.
With the door slammed shut in Italy, another one opened in Germany. Quickly.
The 32-year-old reached an agreement with Schalke 04, the club he supported as a child, on what is believed to be a loan with an obligation to buy for around €2.5 million plus add-ons. A romantic return, yes, but born from a brutal separation.
“I did not expect it to end this way. I still don't understand what happened,” he admitted in a farewell message that read less like a standard goodbye and more like a player trying to process a shock.
From joy to rupture in Florence
When Gosens arrived in Florence two years ago, the move felt like a natural continuation of a career built largely in Italy. He embraced the city, the club, the colours. His first season, by his own account, went “incredibly well.” The second, “incredibly badly.”
The contrast could hardly be sharper. On one side, the images that defined his high points: celebrating in front of a packed Artemio Franchi after scoring in a UEFA Conference League semi-final against Real Betis, or wheeling away in delight at San Siro after striking against Milan in Serie A.
On the other, a very different picture: Gosens on the bench, then out of the squad, then out of the plans altogether. A drastic decision, taken quickly and without a clear explanation from his point of view.
“What never changed was that every single day here, I gave my life. On the field and off it. I always behaved fairly, towards everyone,” he wrote. The tone was respectful, but the sting was obvious.
“The drastic decision to exclude me from the squad struck me deeply, because I think this story deserved a different ending.”
A farewell laced with class – and criticism
Gosens did not name names. He did not attack Grosso directly. His words, though, were clearly aimed at the club’s hierarchy.
He underlined a principle that football executives like to preach to players, and turned it back on them.
“The clubs quite rightly want players to feel a core identity, to have gratitude, respect and effort, but the same is true in reverse. I believe that I have always given all of that. I would've loved the opportunity to fight for my place, but there's no point fighting when there is no possibility of victory.”
That line cut through the usual varnish of farewell posts. No point fighting when the decision has already been made above your head.
Yet he refused to leave spitting fire. The message carried as much affection as frustration.
“As far as I am concerned, I leave here only with gratitude,” he insisted, before listing those who shaped his time in Florence: team-mates who “became like brothers,” kit staff, chefs, waiters, every coach and backroom team, and a medical department he felt had been “too much” and “unjustly” criticised last season.
He thanked the fans for making him feel at home “from the first minute” and expressed appreciation to president Rocco Commisso and his family for bringing him to the club.
A career circle closes
Gosens turned 32 earlier this month. Most of his professional life has unfolded in Italy, where he made his name as one of the most dynamic wing-backs in Europe. Fiorentina was supposed to be another long chapter. Instead, it ends abruptly, with him still trying to piece together how it unravelled so quickly.
And yet, out of the bitterness comes a return to his roots.
“Fortunately, my destiny is taking me right back to the beginning. Where my love for this sport started, and where the journey to make my dreams come true began,” he wrote.
He signs off with a simple “I love you all. See you soon. Robin.”
From Florence to Gelsenkirchen, from Conference League nights at the Franchi to the raw, demanding environment of Schalke, Gosens steps into the next stage of his career with something to prove and something to heal.
Fiorentina move on with Grosso and a new blueprint. Gosens goes home, still asking himself how a story that felt so right could end this coldly.
