A Win and a Future Loss

By: Matt | April 6th, 2008

Klaas Jan Huntelaar flying So my first foray into match score predictions must be counted a wild success, except for the fact that KJH was always going to score a hattrick in this one. He dropped the hammer at 4′, 9′ and 41′ to record his seventh goal of the season against the Super Farmers. Kenneth Perez added the last at 63′ (Suarez set up at least one for KJH, but did not score). 4-1 final, as I predicted. The team played well, Ajax rolls on, and everybody is happy except for…

everyone who wants Huntelaar around for one more year.
If scouts from around Europe had not seen KJH yet, surely they were watching this one. I have seen so many press reports linking Klaas with “big clubs” that I have neither the time nor energy to sort them out. Other writers here at the offside have picked up the slack, salivating over the possibility of a tall, talented young striker who hails from the land of van Basten’s and Cruyff’s. (I am looking at you, chris) It looks like KJH could move wherever he wants this summer. Should he? Last year we could honestly say that he needed one more year before one could estimate how good he really is and could be. It is obvious now that that he is terrific and may indeed get better. Talent and technical ability are not lacking, neither is that uncanny nose for goal.

My concern is for that last piece of the puzzle: the right situation. If KJH wants to move and flourish at a “higher” level, he can’t just pick the biggest club and fattest paycheck. First, he needs a place where he can play. I believe this rules ManU out. I know Louis Saha has been injured and therefore should have played more over the last few years, but if KJH ends up third choice behind Rooney and Tevez, we will all suffer (until Rooney breaks his foot again, and again). Juventus is a bit of a stretch, with del Piero and Trezeguet and Iaquinta tying things up there. Real Madrid makes sense but only if Ruud is truly gone. KJH need look no further than Royston Drenthe to see how badly such a move can turn out. Chelsea would be a disaster, with KJH possibly being stuch behind Anelka and whoever else they decide to buy on a whim this summer. (Just ask Shevchenko how bad this can be) I could go on and say the same about nearly every team linked to him, but I’ll save your eyes and my keystrokes.

I certainly believe that KJH has what is required to score regularly in any league in the world. But so did Shevchenko (obviously), and even Saha had 53 goals in the Premiership before becoming a sideshow and Carling Cup All Star in Manchester. The last thing I want is for KJH to become an accessory in a collection of strikers for some club I care nothing about, whose fans will ridicule him and demand him benched when he fails to score in a CL match (see Ibrahimovic, Zlatan).

So, for the record, if he leaves, I hope he goes to Rome and fills their target-man void, leading them to a surprise CL win next spring.

Later this week, I’ll explore what it all means for the club. But for now, imagine this: a lineup with KJH, Suarez, Ryan Babel, and Wesley Sneijder.