Leon Goretzka expects he will miss Schalke's Revierderby clashes with Borussia Dortmund when he departs for Bayern Munich at the end of the season, as he prepares to feature in his last one.
Goretzka's Schalke contract expires in June and his Bayern switch has been agreed since January, bringing to an end a five-year association with the club.
The derby with Ruhr neighbours Dortmund is something he feels he will miss about his time in Gelsenkirchen, adamant there is no other comparable game in Germany.
And so, he plans to savour every last minute when Schalke host Dortmund on Sunday, their first meeting since Goretzka and his team-mates managed to overturn a 4-0 deficit to draw 4-4 at Signal Iduna Park in November.
"I'm really looking forward to it and will try to do everything we can to win on Sunday," he told RevierSport.
Derby week preparations begin! The Schalke boys will be out on the training pitches from 10:30 CEST this morning April 10, 2018
"There is only one such game in Germany, and that's just Schalke against Dortmund. I will not experience that [when I leave].
"I will miss the derby because I love such games. When you experience such emotionally charged games, you play football.
"I think the situation in the table for the derby is completely irrelevant. This is always a game on knife's edge. It is always fiercely contested. It will be the same on Sunday."
