Lewis Holtby leaves Schalke at the end of the season

 BERLIN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- German international midfielder Lewis Holty rejected Schalke04's offer to extend his expiring contract with the "Royal Blues¹", the club said on its official homepage on Friday.

After Klaas Jan Huntelaar's contract extension, Schalke suffered their first setback² as Holtby rejected the clubs offer to extend his contract that runs out on June 30, 2013.

"We had thought Lewis would like to stay with Schalke at the end of the season, but he has taken a personal decision and we respect that," sporting director Horst Heldt said in a release.

Holtby is linked to a number of Premier³ League clubs, mainly Everton and Liverpool. His father is from England and it is his dream to play in the Premier League.

"We are assured that Lewis will give his best until the last match day of the campaign to make his contribution to the clubs success," Heldt said.

Holtby had a successful 2010-2011 season on loan with Mainz before returning the "Royal Blues", making 53 appearances and scoring goals from 2009 to 2012.

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

3 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。