Croatia head coach Slaven Bilic has turned down an offer to manage Schalke 04.

More Stories

• Bundesliga fixtures and results
• Bundesliga table

Bilic revealed that he had been approached to replace Fred Rutten, who was sacked on Thursday after less than a year in charge of the Gelsenkirchen club.

However the 40-year-old, who spent three seasons in the Bundesliga as a player at Karlsruhe, has decided to stay in charge of his national team.

Bilic said in Zagreb ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifying Group Six match against Andorra: "The people from Schalke were here. We spoke, about the interest. That was a big honour for me and all of Croatian football.

"I thank them for the offer, but the Croatian national team and qualification for the World Cup are my priorities."

Last September the former defender ruled himself out of the running for the vacant manager's position at former club West Ham United before the position was taken by Gianfranco Zola.