The Hunt for Huntelaar
Klaas Jan Huntelaar is, without doubt, one of the most prolific strikers in Europe at the moment. In the 2007/08 season he scored an amazing thirty-three goals in thirty-four appearances, making him the top scorer in the Eredivisie, scoring eleven goals more than Twente’s Blaise N’Kufo.
Now, after three glorious seasons in Ajax, ninety-six goals and 113 appearances for the Amsterdam outfit, the time has finally come to go.
And there are a host of teams waiting to sign him. Among these are Juventus, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Man U, Liverpool, Man City, and Zaragoza. The most likely to sign him at this point seems either Liverpool or Juventus, as the other teams are either following other players more closely or have a squad that is already too full.
Klaas Jan has already confessed that he loves Italy and wants to go live there in an interview for Italian football magazine Calcio 2000. There are rumors that Liverpool are ready to offer Ajax a bid in the area of £22-25 million for the clinical striker.
On the other hand, Ajax are forced to take a look at Juve’s bid first as part of the Grygera deal last summer. Juventus were also trying to sign him last year as well, but the striker decided at the last moment to stay back in Amsterdam.
If he did transfer, it would be the first time he played at a club in a nation other than Holland. If you have any other rumors regarding to Huntelaar, post them below.
“There are rumors that Liverpool are ready to offer Ajax a bid in the area of £22-25 million for the clinical striker.”
Have Hicks and Gillet won the lotto role over? Huntelaar is a class player and would be well worth the money but he’s not the type of player Liverpool need.
Manchester United should sign him for sure we need a striker like him.
From what I’ve heard he’ll probably do another season with Ajax then they’ll cash in and let him go to another club.
Will he stay and play under Van Basten though seeing as how Marco chose not put much faith in him during Euro 2008, and considering that Ajax are not in the Champions League this coming season?
The Juve move looks increasingly likely now.
i think he should go to liverpool
as the best football club in the world..
I just wonder if going from Evedivisie to another league will have any effect on him. I mean I have a nice scoring/games played ratio in my rec league, but it doesnt mean I would do well in the EPL.
MGD said: “I mean I have a nice scoring/games played ratio in my rec league”
The strength of a competition has nothing to do with it.
Huntelaar has the highest scoring rate of any striker that ever playerd in the Dutch competition, which has seen top strikers like Cruijff, Ronaldo, Van Basten, Van Nistelrooy, Romario, etc, that should tell you something! He also has the highest scoring rate in th Ducth National team and was also topscorer of the tournament in which the Ducth U21 team that became European champion.
Marco van basten tries to make sure huntelaar will stay. there were some conversations. Also huntelaar is looking forward to train under van Basten. So if there are no good biddings for Klaas Jan, there is a chance he will stay at ajax for another year…
Tim - excellent point. With van Basten coming in Huntelaar will probably stay one more season. He’ll have the same impact that Klinsmann has had at Bayern, with Lahm committing his future to the club after talks with the incoming gaffer.
Huntelaar should stay in ajax… If ajax is to become once again a great club like in the past it must keep its players and not give in to clubs like real mdrid or liverpool. Imagine of sneijder van der vaart heitinga de jong had stayed in ajax… with huntelaar among those guys we would be a top club again playing 4-3-3 total football fluid and attacking.. but money seems like the thing to have in football… not like in the past. Van basten will surely try to change things from thsi point of view..
I would like to comment on Marc.S. Because Ajax won’t be a great club in the coming 10 years, I think. The mentality of ajax is typical Dutch, there are too arrogant and selfish. And also the Dutch competition is loosing his position. The dutch league will lose some qualification postions for the uefa cup and the Champions League soon. So talented players in the dutch competion who wants to become better, should get a tranfser to Spain/germany/Italy or England. That’s exactly the reason why huntelaar should leave Ajax now!, he is now at the right age and he is up for a new challenge. The problem is that there is still now club so intrested that they made a bid. And Marc: in the time that van der vaart, sneijder heitinga and all, played together, wasn’t it a team, the didn’t play well. So I think that Ajax should be happy with the money they get from the tranfsers. And if they’re lucky some of those guys will come back in the autumn of there carreer. But that is my opinion.