Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Naldo said he demanded more seriousness and disclipline from the young players. Naldo was linked a move return to Wolfsburg but ended up staying at Schalke 04. Since the start of the 2017–18 season, Naldo continued to establish himself in the starting eleven and formed in a centre–back partnership with Nastasić and Thilo Kehrer. He scored his first goal of the season on his 35th birthday, in a 3–1 win against Stuttgart on 10 September 2017. Naldo scored a header in the last minute of the game to help Schalke 04 drew 4–4 against rivals, Borussia Dortmund on 25 November 2017. On 7 December 2017, he signed a one–year contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2019. Naldo then scored two goals in two matches between 16 December 2017 and 13 January 2018 against Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig. For his performance, he was named Schalke 04’s Player of the Month for November and December. Two weeks later on 27 January 2018, Naldo scored his fifth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Stuttgart. He helped the club kept five consecutive clean sheets between 25 February 2018 and 31 March 2018. This was followed up by scoring in the next two matches against Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund. Naldo, once again, was voted Schalke 04’s Player of the Month for April. He made his 350th appearance in the league, coming against FC Augsburg on 5 May 2018, as the club won 2–1. Despite missing one matches throughout the 2017–18 season, Naldo went on to make thirty–nine appearances and scoring seven times in all competitions. For his performance, he was named 2017–18 season’s kicker Team of the Season for the fourth time. Naldo went on to win the league’s ‘Outfield Player of the Season’. He also came third in the race for the German award of Footballer of the Year, finishing behind Nils Petersen and Toni Kroos.