Posted June 9, 201014 yr http://thetotalfootballer.com/2010/06/chelsea-boss-interested-in-16m-ac-milan-striker-huntelaar/ Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly interested in making a summer move for AC Milan striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar. The former Real Madrid man has had a stuttering first season at the San Siro where injury and poor form have restricted the 26 year old’s first team opportunities. With Leonardo’s exit from the Serie A side it seems that the Dutch international may face an even tougher task to push his way into the starting line up and the uncertainty at AC Milan may play into Ancelotti’s hands as he looks to bring in further attacking options. The Premier League champions have been indebted to the striking services of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba but both strikers are over 30 and with Daniel Sturridge still very raw a move for an established goalscorer makes a great deal of sense. Huntelaar has seen the last two seasons potter along as he had to convince successive managers of his worth whilst failing to get a real good run in the first team. That being said he has still managed 15 goals in 41 matches for Real Madrid and AC Milan and its worth remembering that at Ajax the well built forward was a veritable goal machine scoring 76 goals in 92 Eredivisie starts and has the physical presence that could well suit a move to the Premier League.
June 9, 201014 yr €16mil would be quite a reasonable price. He wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't be upset if we signed him.
June 9, 201014 yr We already have Kalou(except Kalou improved a lot this season...huntlaar has regressed if anything), why spend 16m for a taller version?
June 9, 201014 yr For me 16m euros for Huntelaar is about as reasonable as paying £45m for relationship counselling services from Caligula PLC There are three top leagues in Europe just now. The English, the Spanish and the Italian. The German league is a little bit behind them and the French and Dutch league are like little brothers desperate to shed their squeaky voice and talk like an adult. Huntelaar delivered regularly in the boys club football of the Dutch league (a league in which it is as easier to score than it is for Geezer to squeeze a squeaky flirt out of moi) then looked like a runny nosed kid amongst men when he played in both Spain and Italy. Huntlelaar is Kezman Mark II and his potential transfer fee should reflect that.
June 9, 201014 yr I would have said yes to this a few years back, even after he went to Real. I liked his work rate (although could have done without the continuous 'bicycle' kicks) and thought he could be a great striker. However, he's done little to convince me that he'd be any good here
June 9, 201014 yr Huntelaar is likely to do a Gourcoff and go back to an inferior league and then start producing the goods again and people will forget how inept he was in a better standard of football.
June 9, 201014 yr Linked with yet more sh*te. Huntelaar has been truly awful for Milan, they'd have beaten United if they had a striker who could finish in his place. Took him 16 games to get his first goal!
June 9, 201014 yr I don't know why we bother sending scouts to anywhere else but the three big leagues. French league? Signing Drogba, Essien and Malouda has been a total disaster. Dutch league? I don't know why we bothered with Robben. Nistelrooy? ManU must still be kicking themselves that they were fooled by his goal scoring stats in the Dutch league. Surely Arsenal should have known that nothing good can come from signing van Persie. Especially after the disaster they had with Bergkamp and Overmars.
June 9, 201014 yr I don't know why we bother sending scouts to anywhere else but the three big leagues. French league? Signing Drogba, Essien and Malouda has been a total disaster. Dutch league? I don't know why we bothered with Robben. Nistelrooy? ManU must still be kicking themselves that they were fooled by his goal scoring stats in the Dutch league. Surely Arsenal should have known that nothing good can come from signing van Persie. Especially after the disaster they had with Bergkamp and Overmars. What the club need to do is employ a few of the unearthed experts on here. Edited June 9, 201014 yr by snitrbt25
June 10, 201014 yr I don't know why we bother sending scouts to anywhere else but the three big leagues. French league? Signing Drogba, Essien and Malouda has been a total disaster. Dutch league? I don't know why we bothered with Robben. Nistelrooy? ManU must still be kicking themselves that they were fooled by his goal scoring stats in the Dutch league. Surely Arsenal should have known that nothing good can come from signing van Persie. Especially after the disaster they had with Bergkamp and Overmars. ...valid point. Now please just point out on that list which of those players failed miserabley in 2 of the big 3 leagues (England/Spain/Italy) like huntelaar has. Oh wait.... they all did smashingly well which is why you brought them up. So how are they relevant to the conversation where the topic is about someone who only had success in the "small leagues", and twice failed to replicate that in a different "big league"? I dont think anyone was saying you cant find good players in those "small leagues", they're just saying a person who can only play well in those "small leagues" has no benefit to a team like us, when they cant replicate it in a "big league". Edited June 10, 201014 yr by Barry Bridges
June 10, 201014 yr He's not a goal scorer, not worth the money or our time. As I see it, one is either a goal scorer or not, if we want to nurture someome into a goal scorer, we can do it with our youth players without spending ridiculous transfer fee and salary.
June 10, 201014 yr Bridges has pretty much said what I would have said. I am not for a second saying we should ignore the French and Dutch leagues but what I am saying is that when you buy a player who has proved himself in only those leagues then you are taking a bigger risk. In the case of Huntelaar two clubs have already taken that risk for us and surely we should look to learn from their experience rather than being the third club to waste money on him. The reason we have scouts is that we need someone to bring back Buffalo Mozzarella for Ancelotti (oh and to make sure we don't end up with a Dutch striker who would struggle to keep his place ahead of Kevin Davies)
June 10, 201014 yr He's not a goal scorer, not worth the money or our time. As I see it, one is either a goal scorer or not, if we want to nurture someome into a goal scorer, we can do it with our youth players without spending ridiculous transfer fee and salary. I wouldn't go as far as saying he isnt a goalscorer as he certainly is against weaker opposition (both at domestic and international level) - just that he isn't good enough to be a regular goalscorer at the highest level and that is the level we are competing at.
June 10, 201014 yr A complete non-starter. A spectacularly bad player, even at current AC Milan standards.
June 10, 201014 yr ...valid point. Now please just point out on that list which of those players failed miserabley in 2 of the big 3 leagues (England/Spain/Italy) like huntelaar has. Oh wait.... they all did smashingly well which is why you brought them up. So how are they relevant to the conversation where the topic is about someone who only had success in the "small leagues", and twice failed to replicate that in a different "big league"? I dont think anyone was saying you cant find good players in those "small leagues", they're just saying a person who can only play well in those "small leagues" has no benefit to a team like us, when they cant replicate it in a "big league". Bergkamp didnt do too well in Italy if i remember right, in fact when Wenger signed him there were plenty of people saying it was a bad move. Also Henry was pretty rubbish in the short time at milan, did ok over here though. Just because a player struggles in one league doesnt mean he isnt more suited to another. Im not saying I would be happy seeing us sign Huntelaar, just we shouldnt ignore a player after one bad season in a new league. Edited June 10, 201014 yr by dkw
June 10, 201014 yr Huntelaar scored for fun in Dutch league. It isn't easy. He moved to Real which was a very bad decision IMO. It was the dutch invasion time in Real and they chose anyone who is well.. dutch. Huntelaar should have realized that the attackers spot was the hardest to conquer. He still has everything needed to score 20+ in a tough league..he's just ended up in the wrong league or wrong coach. I'm not defending him too much as his pricetag's been very big so he needs to deliver. If we could snatch him for 10mill I'd say why not but with the lineup at the moment DD, Nico and Malouda leading the line it would need an injury to one of those for Carlo even to consider him.
June 10, 201014 yr Bergkamp didnt do too well in Italy if i remember right, in fact when Wenger signed him there were plenty of people saying it was a bad move. ... Just because a player struggles in one league doesnt mean he isnt more suited to another. Exactly my point. I just hate these blanket statements that people throw around after what happened with Kezman. Forlan has been scoring goals for fun in La Liga, which is one of the precious big three, so surely he would be a hit in the Premiership. Oh wait... Like I said, Huntelaar wouldn't be my first choice, but I don't think he was a disaster at Real Madrid. He was there for half a season and scored eight goals. That's not a bad record when you've just made the step up from Eredivisie and you come into the team in the middle of the season.
June 10, 201014 yr I would like us to be linked with better players than we've been over the past few weeks....even if they're just rumors.
June 10, 201014 yr I would like us to be linked with better players than we've been over the past few weeks....even if they're just rumors. I personally don't care who we are linked with. It's the players we actually sign that I'm interested in.
June 10, 201014 yr While I dont favor a move for him, and certainly think he has been awful at Milan, he was not the same level of putrid at Real Madrid. He was nothing like his old Dutch self, but he nabbed 8 goals in half a season of limited minutes. He was hardly the spectacular failure in Spain that some here have made him out to be. And please, no "Then why was he sold" b.s.
June 10, 201014 yr And please, no "Then why was he sold" b.s. They sold Sneijder as well, but kept Royston Drenthe, so their logic is a bit fuzzy.
June 10, 201014 yr Bergkamp didnt do too well in Italy if i remember right, in fact when Wenger signed him there were plenty of people saying it was a bad move. Also Henry was pretty rubbish in the short time at milan, did ok over here though. Just because a player struggles in one league doesnt mean he isnt more suited to another. Im not saying I would be happy seeing us sign Huntelaar, just we shouldnt ignore a player after one bad season in a new league. But again, those players didnt do well in 1 big league, went to another and did extremely well. Who we are discussing is someone who didnt do well in 1 big league, went to another one and did even worse. I mean, if we are saying "this is no reason to discount Huntelaar" then do you suppose we should apply the same logic to Robinho and try to buy him from Man City since we missed our chance the first time? Not saying its impossible for Huntelaar to be a top striker in a top league. I'm saying based on the information we have, that at 16million, its clearly not a good investment in terms of risk management. Would rather we used that transfer fund to secure JCole as a squad player tbh.
June 10, 201014 yr I'm saying based on the information we have, that at 16million, its clearly not a good investment in terms of risk management. Would rather we used that transfer fund to secure JCole as a squad player tbh. I don't think Joe was happy to be just a squad player and that's why he will leave.