Kiel's sporting director Carsten Wehlmann had been negotiating for weeks with Schalke for Derry Murkin, but Schalke demanded a transfer fee of two million euros. Kiel eventually looked for alternatives and finalized the transfer of Tymoteusz Puchacz instead.

Holstein Kiel showed interest in Derry Murkin and had talks with Schalke 04. However, Schalke demanded a transfer fee of two million euros, which was too high for the newly promoted team.