Ajax Open Up Talks for Huntelaar

By: Corey | December 2nd, 2008

Klaas Jan Huntelaar has been one of many forwards linked to a winter window move to Real Madrid due to the absence of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and the general rubbishness of Javier Saviola. Of course Huntelaar is an attractive proposition not only because of his goal scoring abilities, but also because he is not cup tied for the Champions League, something that Real desperately needs. While the deal is by no means completed yet, as reports mid-afternoon yesterday, intial talks are underway and a deal worth around 20 million euros could be finalized in the coming days.

Of course its never good to leak transfer dealings to the public, thus putting them under intense scrutiny from the press, but we all know Real rarely makes a signing without much of anybody knowing about it. Pepe was probably the last player that was signed in a relative amount of secrecy, but even then there was a few days notice. Huntelaar will come in to the Madrid side around January 5th, and pretty much be expected to score right away, which is alot of pressure on a lad who has never played outside of Holland.

His strike rates have always been impressive ever since he left PSV’s youth setup to begin life as a journeyman of sorts. 46 games and 34 for goals for Herenveen in the 04-05 season has been followed up with 90 games for Ajax and 75 goals since 2005. He also has scored 18 goals in 22 games for the u-21 team, and 10 goals in 18 games for the full national team. He certainly scores alot of goals, as he is adept with both feet as well as his head. To bad our crossing is absolute shit so he will have to figure out other ways to get his head to the ball.

I think its a good move for Real, simply because we need a striker. Huntelaar will score for us, he scores everywhere he goes it seems. He wont have a season saving impact on the team though, dont expect miracles. Karim Benzema would be my preferred player, but he wont leave until this summer if Lyon dont progress far enough in the CL, so lets keep our fingers crossed. With a deal for Huntelaar though, Benzema seems like a pipe dream considering we will have 6 first team strikers for the summer, with only Saviola a certain sell-off.

A Huntelaar-Pipita partnership sounds like the old Morientes-Raul partnership that served us so well early on in the decade. But we must not discount Raul or the returning Ruud next season, while Albero Bueno has made a strong case for a first team shirt next season, although I expect him to be loaned out. Huntelaar is seemingly on his way, what are your thoughts on this move?