Schalke are counting the cost of their poor on-field performances after posting a much-reduced profit for 2008 compared to the previous 12 months.
The Gelsenkirchen club made 464,391 euros (£395,702) between January and December 2008, a drop of over 11 million euros (around £9.4million) from 2007.
The major reason was the Blues' failure to qualify for the 2008-09 Champions League, although they did stage their 2007-08 Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona within this financial period, meaning the results next year are likely to get even worse with an operating loss now to be expected.
Schalke failed to even qualify for the Europa League for next season, meaning there will be no additional income other than from the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, leaving new manager Felix Magath with only a limited budget.
In fact, Magath will probably have to sell players before he can buy any, which makes the transfer of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to Bayern Munich even more likely.
Bayern appear willing to pay up to 20 million euros (just over £17million) for the Germany Under-21 international, but Magath has declared the player not for sale at any price, despite the apparent willingness of chairman Clemens Tonnies to negotiate a deal.
Tonnies may now be forced to overrule Magath after admitting the club had "not reached its goals" last season and after seeing their overall debts rise to 136.6 million euros (£116.4million).
And the pressure will be even greater on Magath to lead them into Europe next season.
