Raul leaves Real for......

[O Fenomeno]

Raul to leave Schalke at the end of this season

Schalke to retire the number 7 shirt

[Heero Yuy]

[The Somalian]

Wtf lmao why

[TF S4DK]

Got offered a four year deal elsewhere which no sane club is matching, smh.

[The Somalian]

Arab money i bet

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Raul has been a great success at Bundesliga side Schalke, he scored 19 goals in his first season and has netted 20 times in this campaign so far. Signed on a free, many doubted whether he'd be able to produce such a return and he's answered any doubters easily.

The fans love him, he's even climbed into their section and sang songs with the Ultras following games. His impact is hard to overestimate but Schalke themselves have managed it.

The Spaniard today announced he'd be leaving the club at the end of the season and is looking to play football outside of Europe, Marca saying the Middle East. Schalke offered Raul, who is 35 in June, an extra year on his contract but he wants a two year deal and as such will be off.

His press conference today was emotional and there can be no doubt that he's as fond of the club as they are of him,Raul is quoted on the club website as saying

"After long and careful consideration I have decided not to play for FC Schalke 04 next season. It took me a very long time to reach this decision and it was a very

difficult one for me to take.

"Schalke fans really are something special. They've shown me an incredible amount of love and affection over the last two years. It's hard for me to find the right words to describe it. To come anywhere near to paying back the fans for what they have given me, I should have scored lots more goals and won more titles."

That's all brilliant and we wish him all the best. But what's all this about Schalke retiring the number 7 shirt in his honour? Bild quote Schalke Executive Horst Heldt as saying "The number 7 is no longer awarded for an indefinite time at Schalke."

It seems incredibly extreme for a player who has only represented the club for two years. What would happen if they had a real lifelong club legend call it a day, stop playing football? It may have been an emotional reaction that hasn't been thought out properly but if teams start retiring shirts for such reasons then we could be in treble figures for shirt numbers before we know it.

:lmao:

[Salamanca]

how stupid. disrespectful to their past players imo.

[Bruno Di Gradi]

Anelka to be Raul's new manager

[Michel Kane]

Raul >>>

[O Fenomeno]

Al Sadd

[Heero Yuy]

Deserves a nice pay day

[Creed Diskenth]

Raul to leave Schalke at the end of this season

Schalke to retire the number 7 shirt