Schalke coach Christian Gross is hoping veteran Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar can be persuaded to return on loan to help the Royal Blues fight relegation from the Bundesliga.
“If a player with this experience, aura and personality were to join us again, that would be fantastic,” said Gross.
Huntelaar, 37, helped Schalke reach the Champions League semi-finals in 2010-11 and was the Bundesliga’s top-scorer in 2011-12, with 29 goals.
After numerous phone calls between the pair, Gross says Huntelaar has “very, very good memories” of Schalke, for whom he scored 126 goals in seven years before rejoining Ajax in 2017. Huntelaar is still banging in the goals, having netted 53 times in 121 games for Ajax since 2017, though he has mostly been a substitute this season.
However, the striker admits to reservations about returning to Gelsenkirchen.
Huntelaar had planned to retire at the end of the season, but Gross wants him back to boost the Schalke squad. “He is infected by this Schalke virus,” quipped the Swiss.