Transfer completed: Huntelaar to join Ajax for 4.5 years
29 December: It is official: SC
Heerenveen striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar (22), currently the top
goalscorer of the Eredivisie with 16 goals, will be an
Ajacied as per 01 January 2006. Ajax and
Heerenveen worked out the final details of the transfer
today. In this particular case Ajax
even officially revealed the transfer fee paid: 9
million euros. 'The Hunter' has committed to the
Amsterdam club until 30 June 2010.
It has taken some time... On Monday
19 December Dutch media reported that Ajax and Huntelaar had
reached an agreement on the terms of his contract. This was
confirmed on TV by both Huntelaar and his agent, Arnold
Oosterveer. A deal seemed a matter of time. On Friday 23
December there seemed to be 'white smoke': it was reported in
the Dutch press that Huntelaar was undergoing his medical test
and that Heerenveen and Ajax were working out the final
details. Huntelaar's official presentation was expected later
that day.
The reports were a bit premature.
Ajax published an official statement, saying that Heerenveen
and Ajax were negotiating and "close to a deal", but not quite
there yet. It seemed like Ajax's remarkable statement was a
reaction to some quotes on the AbeLenstra.com fansite from
Heerenveen chairman Riemer van der Velde, who was quoted saying
that it was all a done deal and that Ajax were going to pay 9
million euros.
The true story popped up hours later:
Ajax and Heerenveen more or less agreed on the transfer fee,
but were still argueing about some details, including the
'development fee', a fee that must legally be paid
to Huntelaar's first club, De Graafschap, for
investing in his development as a youth player. The buying
party (in this case: Ajax) normally pays that fee, but Ajax
insisted that Heerenveen should pay it in this particular
case.
Lawyers of both clubs studied the
contract over Christmas. The transfer (and the transfer
fee) was confirmed officially by Ajax today, but it is as yet
unknown whether Ajax or Heerenveen will pay De Graafschap their
'development fee'.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar (born Drempt, 12
August 1983) was born in de eastern area known as de
Achterhoek, where he started playing football for amateur
club H&K. He was discovered by scouts of De Graafschap and
entered the youth system of the Doetinchem outfit. In 2000, at
age 16, he accepted an invitation from the PSV youth
academy. In Eindhoven his 'instinct' in front of goal became
evident: Huntelaar became the top goalscorer
of PSV A1 and after that Young PSV.
In the first half of the 2002-2003
season Huntelaar had one Eredivisie appearance for PSV's first
team, but after the winter-break he was loaned out to his
previous club, De Graafschap. He had 9 more Eredivisie
appearances that year, but did not score.
In the summer of 2003 Huntelaar was
loaned out by PSV to AGOVV Apeldoorn, newcomers to the First
Division of Dutch football. In Apeldoorn his career
really took off. Huntelaar played 35 league games for
AGOVV in which he netted 26 times, becoming the top goalscorer
of the First Division. He drew the attention of SC Heerenveen,
who signed him up after one season, in the summer of 2004. The
northern club only paid PSV a transfer fee of only
100,000 euros, but a special clause was included in the deal:
PSV would receive 15% of the transfer fee Heerenveen would
receive for Huntelaar in the future. An ironic detail: out of
the 9 million Ajax paid for the striker, 1.35 million
euros will go straight to their Eindhoven arch-enemies...
Huntelaar scored 17 goals in 31
appearanes in his first season at Heerenveen. This season he
netted 16 times in the first half of the season alone. In
total, he scored 33 goals in 45 matches for SC Heerenveen. It
underscores The Hunter's tremendous talent as a
'hit-man'. Goals for previous are no guarantee for similar
productivity at the Amsterdam ArenA, as the Ajax careers
of Nikos Machlas and Wesley Sonck made clear, but it
seems like Ajax have contracted a 'goal machine'.
Ajax were not the only club
interested in Huntelaar's services. Clubs such as AZ and
Feyenoord were also interested in his services. Huntelaar,
however, made it crystal clear from the start that Ajax would
be the club of hic choice. In fact, he said, he called up
Feyenoord personally to kindly turn down their offer.
The most spicy detail of the transfer
is the timing: the deal was officially announced by the
two clubs one day before the Eredivisie encounter between SC
Heerenveen and Ajax at the Abe Lenstra Stadium, which will be
the last game of 'KJH' for the Frisian side. Will he be kept
out of the squad...? If Heerenveen are to be believed he
definitely won't: The Hunter is expected to play
against the players who will officially be his team-mates some
26 hours after the final whistle... Huntelaar will be
officially introduced to them on 08 January 2006, the day
of Ajax's first training after a (very short) winter break.
(MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl,
SC-Heerenveen.nl, VI.nl
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