Arsenal and Liverpool will have to look elsewhere now that the prolific striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has extended his contract at Schalke 04 by two years until 2015.
"I've thought about this decision long and hard and I'm very grateful that the club allowed me the time to do so. But now I've made the choice I'm most comfortable with," said the 29-year-old Holland international who had been linked with a £6m move to Arsenal in January.
"I've always felt at home at Schalke, with the club and the fans, and I want to send out a positive signal now because I believe in our team and I believe we can still achieve a great deal in the second half of the Bundesliga season. And we aren't without a chance against Galatasaray in the last 16 of the Champions League."
The news will be a boost for the manager, Jens Keller, who was promoted from youth team coach a week ago to replace the sacked Huub Stevens until the end of the season.
Huntelaar, who joined Schalke from Milan in August 2010, was the Bundesliga's top scorer with 29 goals last season and has scored 11 times in all competitions this term.
He also broke Hermann Eppenhoff's club record, set in 1941, for the most goals in a season with 48 in all competitions during the last campaign.
Schalke, who topped their Champions League group, have been struggling domestically with four defeats and no wins in their last six Bundesliga games, leaving them in seventh place, 17 points behind the leaders, Bayern Munich.
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