Schalke have confirmed other clubs are showing interest in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as the Netherlands international approaches the final six months of his contract.
Huntelaar, 31, scored the fourth Bundesliga hat trick of his career as Schalke beat Mainz 4-1 on Saturday, taking his tally to 101 goals in 157 competitive matches for the Royal Blues.
His contract is due to expire in the summer, though, and Schalke had intended to wait until the winter break to try to finalise an extension. With other clubs now showing an interest, Der Westen has reported that they may now seek to hold talks sooner rather than later.
"There are also clubs looking at him, maybe even one or two clubs from Germany," sporting director Horst Heldt told the paper, which reported that Bundesliga rivals Wolfsburg are among the interested teams.
However, Schalke remain confident that they can keep the striker, who lives across the border in the Netherlands, with Heldt telling Sport Bild: "We want him to end his career at Schalke.
"We already met once and both sides signalled their interest in extending the contract. We agreed to meet for a second time right before Christmas and then go into details. We definitely want to keep him, but it's not a done deal yet."
Huntelaar's goals against Mainz helped Schalke bounce back from their 5-0 humiliation at home to Chelsea in the Champions League in midweek.
Coach Roberto Di Matteo, who faced questions over his decision to abandon his usual 3-5-2 formation in the loss to the Blues, was pleased with his team's response to the setback.
"We were solid at the back but we were also good going forward," Di Matteo said after the win. "We have built on the good performance we showed against Wolfsburg [on Nov. 22]. It was a victory for the team and the best response we could have hoped for after the defeat to Chelsea."