Blackburn Rovers' desire to add glitz and glamour as well as goals to their squad has prompted a formal offer to Schalke for Raúl, their three-times Champions League winner and former Spain striker.
The 34-year-old, who is Real Madrid's record scorer with 323 goals in 741 appearances for the club, enjoyed a successful first season in the Bundesliga last term and has a further 12 months to run on his £100,000-a-week contract at Schalke. However, the German club, who had secured the Spaniard in 2010 with a Champions League campaign ahead, have privately indicated they would be willing to sanction his sale if he expresses a desire to leave.
The club's general manager, Horst Heldt, is due to hold talks with Raúl and his representative on Tuesday evening to discover whether the striker is willing to move to Ewood Park, where he would rejoin his former Real team-mate Míchel Salgado. Schalke play a Europa League qualifying tie in Helsinki on Thursday and the club hope to resolve the uncertainty before that trip.
"We don't actually want to let him go, but if he tells us he wants to go we will deal with it and enter negotiations," Heldt said. "There will be a prompt decision on the matter: by tomorrow [Wednesday] at 1pm at the latest."
Raúl, an iconic figure at Real and in European competition, would still represent an eye-catching signing for Rovers and their ambitious owners, Venky's, even if it remains to be seen whether Blackburn could afford to match his current wage demands.
The Rovers manager, Steve Kean, has signed David Goodwillie from Dundee United but is desperate to add further to his forward ranks having lost Nikola Kalinic and Benjani, as well as last season's loanee Mame Biram Diouf back to Manchester United.
Venky's would certainly appreciate Raúl's profile; Rovers apparently attempted to secure David Beckham on loan from LA Galaxy in January. Indeed, the club were linked heavily with a move for Milan's Brazilian forward Ronaldinho in the midwinter transfer window, before eventually opting instead to secure Rubén Rochina from Barcelona B and Mauro Formica from Newell's Old Boys.