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Schalke says no to Blackburn’s Raul bid

Comment: 0 August 17th, 2011 by: admin

Schalke 04 rejected a bid by the Premier League’s Blackburn Rovers for the Spanish striker Raul.

A statement from the Bundesliga premier club stated that the Rovers had contacted them Tuesday in an effort to acquire the striker, recently honoured as the record goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League.

A statement from Schalke manager Horst Heldt confirmed the rejection.

‘Both our coach Ralf Rangnick and my executive committee colleage Peter Peters said they did not want to sell him, and neither did I’, Heldt’s statement published on Schalke’s official website.

Heldt furthered, saying that Raul himself turned down the idea of leaving the club for the Rovers.

‘Raul has told us that he does not want to leave Schalke and that we should reject Blackburn’s offer. We have already done this,’ the general manager wrote. ‘We are pleased that Raul wants to help us achieve success in the future.’

Raul, whose contract with Schalke will see him with the Bundesliga outfit until next year, was asked to respond to the offer before Blackburn left for Finland for a Europa League qualifier against HJK Helsinki.

Immediately after the Rovers’ bid, Schalke stated that the necessary negotiations would take place should Raul express interest in joining Blackburn.
‘We don’t actually want to let him go, but if he tells us he wants to go we will deal with it and enter negoatiations,’ Heldt had said.

The 34-year old joined Schalke after 16 years with Real Madrid, where he scored a record of 323 goals in 721 appearances. His contract with the German club guarantees him £100,000 a week.

A move to the Blackburn Rovers would see Raul reunite with former Real Madrid teammate Michel Salgado.

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