Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is normally working on his last season as a professional football player, but that may change. BILD reports that Schalke 04 is considering letting the 37-year-old attacker stick to it for another season in the event of relegation from the Bundesliga. Huntelaar, who will be celebrating his 38th birthday in August, signed a contract in January until the end of the season in Gelsenkirchen and a longer stay of one year suddenly seems to have become an option.
Huntelaar announced earlier this season as a player for Ajax that he is in his last season. When his old club was in danger of relegation, he decided to exchange his contract in Amsterdam for a temporary contract with Schalke. In the fight against relegation, he came to the aid of his former employer, although he has not yet been able to make a major contribution. Due to injuries, he did not get further than 114 playing minutes in the Bundesliga so far. Last weekend, he appeared for the first time since returning to base at Schalke in the game against Bayer Leverkusen. Despite a goal, Huntelaar could not prevent a defeat (2-1).
Schalke is stiff at the bottom of the Bundesliga with 10 points from 27 games. Relegation seems inevitable with only seven games left. With a view to the new season, sports director Peter Knäbel is looking for a new striker. Hamburger SV attacker Simon Terodde is in the picture, according to German media, but now Huntelaar is also being looked at. Discussions about postponing his football retirement by a year are not ruled out, it sounds.
The coming weeks will show whether Schalke actually wants to continue with Huntelaar for another year. One point of attention is according to BILD its susceptibility to injury. The striker has hardly played since his switch in January due to persistent injuries. If both parties want to continue with each other, the attacker will have to settle for a salary of less than a million euros.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 27 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 44 | 64 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 57 |
| 3 | VfL Wolfsburg | 27 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 24 | 54 |
| 4 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 27 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 50 |
| 5 | Borussia Dortmund | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 43 |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 43 |
| 7 | 1. FC union Berlin | 27 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 39 |
| 8 | VfB Stuttgart | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 39 |
| 9 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 39 |
| 10 | SC Freiburg | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | -1 | 37 |
| 11 | FC Augsburg | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | -12 | 32 |
| 12 | TSG Hoffenheim | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | -6 | 30 |
| 13 | Werder Bremen | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | -8 | 30 |
| 14 | Hertha BSC | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | -14 | 25 |
| 15 | FSV Mainz 05 | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | -19 | 25 |
| 16 | 1. FC Cologne | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | -22 | 23 |
| 17 | Arminia Bielefeld | 27 | 6 | 5 | 16 | -25 | 23 |
| 18 | Schalke 04 | 27 | 1 | 7 | 19 | -54 | 10 |
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