English Premiership
Raul to play in England?
2011-08-16 18:13
Berlin - German club Schalke received an offer from Premier League side Blackburn for former Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez.
Schalke general manager Horst Heldt told German daily Bild on Tuesday that the Bundesliga club received an offer from Blackburn on Monday and would "meet with Raul and his agent today to talk about it."
"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 negotiations. There will be a prompt decision in the matter, by tomorrow at 1 pm at the latest," Heldt added.
The 34-year-old Raul, whose contract with Schalke runs until 2012, scored 22 goals in 55 games for the club following his arrival from Real Madrid last summer.
"We won't give him away," Heldt told Kicker magazine. "We'll see how the discussions go."
Raul is the all time Champions League top scorer with 71 goals. He played in all of Schalke's 12 games in the competition last season, his five goals helping his side to an unlikely semi-final where they lost to Manchester United.
Raul started each of Schalke's 34 games in the league last season, scoring 13 goals and setting up four. He scored again last weekend, with a delightful chip over the goalkeeper in Schalke's 5-1 rout of Cologne.
He won the German Cup with Schalke, but failed to score in the 5-0 win over Duisburg in the final.
Blackburn was bought by Indian poultry giant Venky's last year. Since the takeover, the midtable Premier League club has attempted to sign former England captain David Beckham and ex-Brazil midfielder Ronaldinho.