KLAAS JAN HUNTELAAR PROFILE

BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar born 12 August 1983 in Voor-Drempt, Gelderland, nicknamed The Hunter, is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Schalke 04 and for the Dutch national team. Huntelaar is a prolific strikerwith technique and athleticism and has been compared in style to players such as Marco van Basten and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Former Netherlands and FC Barcelona, and current Bayern Munich manager Louis van Gaal has been quoted saying about the player "in the penalty area, he is the best player in the world, bar none."

Named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and Ajax "Player of the Year" in 2006, Huntelaar was a part of the Dutch side that won the 2006 UEFA U-21 Championship where he became the tournament's leading goalscorer. He was also named as one of two strikers in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. He is the all-time top scorer of the Netherlands U-21 national team with 18 goals in 22 appearances. In domestic competition he finished top scorer in the Eredivisie 2005–06 and 2007–08 seasons.

Huntelaar played previously for PSV, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, SC Heerenveen, AFC Ajax, Real Madrid CF, and AC Milan, before joining Schalke in August 2010.

Huntelaar was born in Voor-Drempt, a village in the Achterhoek region of Netherlands, but moved to Hummelo when he was six weeks old.[7] He lived with parents Dirk-Jan and Maud Huntelaar, and his two brothers Niek and Jelle.[7] Huntelaar has been in a relationship with his girlfriend Maddy Schoolderman since 2000.[8] On 9 April 2009, the couple had their first child, a boy called Seb.

At the age of five, Huntelaar, along with his two brothers, joined the local football team VV H. en K. where he played for the next six years. He was scouted as a youth talent during this period by Go Ahead Eagles but the distance required to travel to the team's base in Deventer prevented him from joining the club.
Soon after, he was scouted by De Graafschap and on 6 April 1994 he signed his first youth contract, aged 11.During his first two years with De Graafschap, Huntelaar played in various positions including left wing, attacking midfield, left back, and even goalkeeper; only in his third year was he deployed as a striker.

In the 1997–98 season, the 14-year-old Huntelaar was the main striker for the C-team at De Graafschap and scored 33 goals in 20 matches.The following season saw him promoted to the B1 team, and in the 1999–2000 season he became top scorer of the B1 league with 31 goals.His goalscoring abilities drew the attention of PSV, who subsequently signed him in June 2000



KLAAS JAN HUNTELAAR PROFILE

Date of birth: 12 August 1983
Place of birth: Voor-Drempt, Achterhoek, Netherlands
Height: 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position: Striker
Club information
Current club: Schalke 04
Number: 25
Youth career
1988–1994 VV H. en K.
1994–2000 De Graafschap
2000–2002 PSV

Senior career*
2002–2004 PSV 1 (0)
2003 → De Graafschap (loan) 9 (0)
2003–2004 → AGOVV (loan) 35 (26)
2004–2005 Heerenveen 46 (33)
2005–2009 Ajax 92 (76)
2009 Real Madrid 20 (8)
2009–2010 Milan 25 (7)
2010– Schalke 04 22 (7)'

National team‡
2004–2006 Netherlands U-21 20 (18)
2006– Netherlands 42 (26)