At this rate they ought to start handing out wooden shoes at the Bernabéau. Tuesday Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar passed a medical, paving the way for his potentially €27 million ($34 U.S.) move from Ajax to Real Madrid, which is about 1.5 million Euros per letter in his name.
The move was necessitated 's season-ending knee injury. Huntelaar joins compatriots Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Arjen Robben and Roysten Drenthe for the defending La Liga champs, who are six points off the pace behind Barcelona.
Besides turning Madrid into a mini-Dutch national team, the move finally takes Huntelaar off the transfer market. For years the wiry striker has been linked to about every major team in England like a Hollywood starlet in the pages of US Weekly. Real bit the bullet and took the plunge probably because they were desperate.
Normally there wouldn't be a lot of concern for a player that's scored 79 times in 97 appearances for Ajax, yet there is a specter of buying players from the Eredivisie ever since Chelsea bought Meteja Kezman from PSV in 2004. The Serbia striker scored a whopping 105 goals in 122 appearances at PSV, but flopped royally in London.
Of course, Huntelaar could follow the career path of van Nistelrooy, who like Huntelaar, played his formative years at SC Heerenveen. Barring a trophy this season, however, Real Madrid -- like Don Quixote -- could just end up chasing at windmills.
Real Madrid Continue to go Dutch originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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