Madrid to sign Ajax goal machine Huntelaar

Real Madrid CF will sign striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar from AFC Ajax in January, after the two clubs announced an agreement over a reported €27m transfer for the Dutch international.

Four-and-a-half year deal
Both parties confirmed on their websites later on Tuesday that the Ajax captain would be leaving Amsterdam to sign a four-and-a-half year contract with the Spanish champions, subject to a successful medical. The 25-year-old will move to the Santiago Bernabéu on 2 January, with the opening of the transfer window, in exchange for an initial fee thought to be worth €20m. Huntelaar's arrival will help cover for the absence of his countryman Ruud van Nistelrooy whose season ended with knee surgery in November.

'Logical' move
Ajax coach Marco van Basten explained the decision to sell the forward, saying: "It is logical that when a club like Real Madrid come along, it becomes very hard to keep him here. And at Ajax, we have to worry about more things than just one player; it's about conducting a policy geared for the future." Huntelaar has scored 76 Dutch top flight, or Eredivisie, goals in 92 games for Ajax since joining from SC Heerenveen midway through the 2005/06 campaign. He had made a solitary substitute appearance for PSV Eindhoven three seasons before that. In Madrid, the 18-cap international will link up with fellow Netherlands players Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart as well as Van Nistelrooy.