Top 10 Schalke Academy graduates of all-time

4. Olaf Thon

The Professor

Arguably the greatest outfield player produced by Schalke Academy in the 20th century, Olaf Thon joined the Miners Academy at the age of 14. He spent three years in the Academy before making his first-team debut at the age of 17.

Thon had two spells with the Miners on either side of six seasons spell with Bayern Munich. The striker spent five seasons in the Veltins-Arena during his first spell between 1983 and 88. The second spell saw Thon spending eight seasons with the club between 1994 till his last day as a professional in 2002.

Nicknamed the 'Professor' the midfielder made over 350 appearances and scored 75 times for the Royal Blues during his 13-year long career with Schalke. Thon was part of the 1990 German side that won the World Cup.

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3. Jens Lehmann

Lehmann was part of the great Arsenal 'Invincibles'

The greatest player to come out of the Royal Blues academy in the 20th century. The shot-stopper joined the youth setup in 1987-year-old and made his first-team debut a year later. After a rocky start, Lehmann matured into one of the best goalkeepers of his generation.

Lehmann went onto spend 10 seasons at Veltins-Arena before moving to AC Milan at the end of the 1997/98 season. The custodian was a key member of the squad that won 1996/97 UEFA Cup, Schalke's only success in the competition.

A failed move to Milan was followed by a return to Germany, joining Schalke's arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund. A move to Arsenal soon followed before returning to Germany to join VfB Stuttgart. Jens Lehmann called it a day in 2011, after appearing once for the Gunners while they faced a goalkeeper injury crisis.

A Schalke legend, Lehmann made 312 appearances and even scored three goals for the Miners during his 10 seasons. Often called 'Mad Jens', Lehmann was known for his on-field gimmicks and fantastic goalkeeping ability.