“According to definite information obtained by the WAZ media group … it is a done deal. At the end of the season at the latest, Magath’s Schalke mission will come to an end,” reported the group.

Even a win against Valencia cannot save the 57-year-old, added WAZ, with other media reporting a similar story.

Magath himself told Kicker: “No one has spoken to me. I don’t know anything. I assume that I will be carrying out my contract until 2013.”

Magath’s reported departure came despite him taking the club to the German Cup Final this season and the last 16 of the Champions League after finishing runners-up to Bayern Munich last season.

Schalke earned a 1-1 draw at Valencia on 15 February, putting them in a strong position to advance to the quarter-finals of Europe’s top competition.

But the Royal Blues have had a disappointing Bundesliga campaign and are currently 10th, a full 31 points off the pace set by runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund.

The Schalke faithful have begun to despair of the authoritarian Magath, whose contract was due to run out in 2013.

According to WAZ’s sources, the club’s bosses are looking “for someone like Jurgen Klopp”, Dortmund’s coach who has also been linked to the soon-to-be vacant job at Bayern.

Daily Bild said that Freiburg boss Robin Dutt had been lined up to replace Magath.

The club itself was tight-lipped, with finance director Peter Peters saying: “It’s not my job to comment on that. We have no official statement in the pipeline.”

If confirmed, Magath would be the third Bundesliga boss to be booted out prematurely in three days.

Bayern announced Monday they were parting company with coach Louis van Gaal after a shocking string of three defeats for the German giants— the worst run in more than 10 years.

And on Tuesday, Hamburg announced that coach Armin Veh would leave the club at the end of the season.

AFP/rm