Arsenal Dealt Blow As Huntelaar Signs New Deal With Schalke

Despite the transfer window being closed, there is always transfer gossip doing the rounds in the papers and we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest news during the coming months. Today, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has signed a new deal with Schalke.

Arsenal have been dealt a transfer blow after target Klaas-Jan Huntelaar signed a new contract with Schalke, according to the Daily Mail.

The 29-year-old’s contract was due to expire in the summer and the Mail claim we were looking to bring him to the Emirates in January. However, Huntelaar has ended speculation over his future by signing a two-year extension with the German outfit which ties him to the club until June 2015.

The Dutch hitman confirmed the news:

‘I have thought long and hard about this decision and I am very grateful to my managers at Schalke 04, who have have given me this time.

‘But now I have made the decision, in which I have the best feeling. I’ve always felt comfortable at Schalke, the club and its fans.

‘I now want to put a positive sign, because I believe in our team and the fact that we are in the second round in the Bundesliga is a great prize. And we are in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Galatasaray.’

Huntelaar is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail

This news comes as a huge blow as I’d have loved to see Huntelaar at Arsenal. He’s a proven goal-scorer and could have been just the man to solve our striker ‘woes’.

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Olivier Giroud has impressed at times since joining in the summer but we don’t have a lot of back-up in terms of an out-and-out striker. Theo Walcott is being given some game-time up top but will need time to adapt, and it’s clear the boss has no confidence in Marouane Chamakh while he also doesn’t seen to fancy playing Lukas Podolski through the middle, so a striker is needed in January.

Unfortunately Huntelaar won’t be joining after signing his new deal so we’ll have to see if Arsene has his eye on someone else when the transfer window re-opens next month.

Who would you like Wenger to sign? Get involved in the comments section.