Raul to Stay at Schalke after Rejecting Rovers Bid

Veteran striker Raul will remain with German league side Schalke 04 after the 34-year-old rejected an official offer to join Blackburn Rovers, Royal Blues' manager Horst Heldt confirmed Tuesday.

Schalke received a written bid for Raul from the Premier League side on Monday, but the club held a meeting with the Spain veteran's agent on Tuesday who confirmed his client wants to stay with the German league club.

"We had a conference call with Raul's agent and an interpreter," Heldt told Bild on Tuesday.

"Raul wants to stay with us, there will be no transfer to Blackburn."

With Schalke facing HJK Helsinki in a Europa League play-off game on Thursday in Finland, the German club wanted a quick decision on whether to enter into negotiations with Rovers if Raul had said he wanted to leave.

The ex-Spain star has a contract with Schalke until June 2012.

He was signed by ex-Schalke coach Felix Magath in July 2010 and had become a big hit in Gelsenkirchen after helping Schalke reach the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

He scored 19 goals in all competitions last season, including 13 in the German league, and won the last of his 102 caps for Spain in 2006.