Schalke 04 have identified Beijing Guoan head coach Roger Schmidt as the club's preferred choice to replace Huub Stevens, who took charge of the Bundesliga giants on an interim basis after the sacking of Domenico Tedesco.

Tedesco's side finished as runners-up in the domestic league last campaign but they have looked shadows of themselves this season, languishing in the bottom half of the table. 

The return of club legend Stevens last month for a third stint in charge after Tedesco was sacked has failed to yield the desired effect, with the Royal Blues losing three of their last four matches in all competitions and standing only six points above the relegation zone.

According to German media outlet BILD, Schalke have sounded out Schmidt as their prime target to help the club regain its identity and negotiations are "at an advanced stage" with the former Bayer Leverkusen and Salzburg boss, who took over the reins of Guoan in the summer of 2017.

Although the 52-year-old lacks major trophies in top European leagues he is highly rated in both Germany and China. He took a thrilling Leverkusen to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League in 2015 and guided a swashbuckling Guoan to the Chinese FA Cup title and AFC Champions League qualification last season.

Schmidt's contract with Guoan is set to run out at the end of the year, and the BILD revealed that Schalke might choose to trigger the 3.4 million U.S. dollars release clause so as to extricate him from the final eight months of his contract.

Since leaving the Bundesliga in 2017, Schmidt has been frequently linked with the Schalke hot seat with the German club's hierarchy supposedly an admirer of his tactical nous and man-management skills. 

And this time the much-anticipated return to his home country may end up coming to fruition.