After claims emerged that Wesley Sneider would not be leaving Inter this summer, Sir Alex Ferguson is looking at his national colleague, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, as an alternative. The Premier League champions are desperate to fill a hole in the midfield left by veteran Paul Scholes after the 36 year-old announced his retirement, despite pleas from Ferguson for him to stay on for another year.
Manchester United were reportedly interested in the Dutch forward two years ago, during his tenure at Real Madrid. Now at Schalke, Huntelaar may be interested in a Champions League switch considering Schalke failed to qualify for the competition in the coming campaign. Rumours are fast-spreading that United will be selling Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov this summer, despite his Premier League Golden Boot award, and see 27 year-old Huntelaar as a suitable replacement.
Despite varying club form, Huntelaar has shown his greatest potential on the international stage. At PSV and Ajax, the striker enjoyed a goal ratio of almost a goal per game at each club. However, since moving abroad, he hasn’t seen the same success replicated but still featured admirably for the likes of Real Madrid, Milan and Schalke. Huntelaar is currently the leading goalscorer in the Euro 2012 qualifying stage, and has scored 10 goals in only 6 games this international season. If Sir Alex Ferguson can encourage the Dutchman to emulate his national success on a club level, he might just be on to something.
Valued at £20m, the forward may prove to be of good value, also. With rumours surfacing that Arsenal are making a £12m move for Wolves’ Kevin Doyle, the market’s inflation is certainly evident. Huntelaar will have to fight against the likes of Wayne Rooney and emerging star, Javier Hernandez for his spot in the first team, and with Mame Biran Diouf and Federico Macheda returning from their loan spells, competition is abundant. One would imagine this is enough candidates and should any deal for Huntelaar come to fruition, rumours surrounding Berbatov would indeed prove true, and the Bulgarian would be offloaded.