Huntelaar looking forward to Madrid

Maarten Wijffels
AD
Wednesday 03 December 2008

A text message from Marco van Basten read: 'Congratulations on a fantastic club. Nice to see you're going to meet some old friends. Enjoy it!'

Huntelaar received it shortly after his 4½ year contract with Real Madrid was sealed.

"I got messages from so many people at Ajax. It's good to see that so many people are happy for me," the forward said a little after 9 PM on Tuesday.

With his head full of thoughts and his heart full of anticipation the 25-year-old striker was searching for words to express how he felt.

"It keeps going through my mind: I will be allowed to pull on that famous jersey. Together with that stadium these are my first associations with Real Madrid. I think most players will know what I mean. I signed for 4½ years as that seems to be the maximum period there. For me 5½ years would have been fine as well."

"Besides that I am thrilled I am also very busy packing, because we will fly to Madrid on Wednesday. And what to wear when you are going to sign your contract with Real Madrid? I do have a suit, but I haven't worn it for such a long time that I don't even know if it still fits."

Laughing: "Real should have informed me about the transfer a bit earlier So I could have gone into town and get something new."

The speed with which the Spanish champions sealed the transfer of their sixth Dutchman was indeed amazing.

Less than 24 hours after the first transfer rumors came through, chairman Calderon okayed the deal.

In the transfer fee was a lot higher than Madrid might have wanted.

Ajax will receive 27 million in three rates, which is a lot more than the 20 million they initially offered.

The first 20 million of the amount is set.

The 7 million on top is dependable on the achievements of Madrid until the summer of 2013.

Ajax negotiated some other conditions that might earn the club another 2 million or so, but that is about the part of the transfer fee that Ajax will have to forward to Huntelaar's previous club SC Heerenveen.

"We tried very hard to keep Huntelaar here and have actually offered him a new deal, but we were unable to work it out," Director of Football, Danny Blind said.

"He had 1½ year left on his contract so we had to anticipate. A possible departure at the end of his contract would not be in the best interest of Ajax. So the fee we're receiving now is good for the club. For Klaas-Jan Real Madrid is of course a great next career move after 3 years at Ajax. He really deserves the transfer."

Without mentioning any details Blind dares to say that Ajax will receive the additional 7 million on top of the initial 20.

"That is very likely. For these 7 million you should think about commission we receive every time Real qualify for the Champions League and each time the qualify for the second round. It's not even about winning the Champions League or reaching a semifinal."

Huntelaar will earn an yearly salary of 3.6 million euro in Madrid.