Klaas Jan Huntelaar to join Real Madrid in January

Some big transfer news ! And it is really big !!!

Real Madrid have announced that highly rated Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will join them in January. Los Blancos will pay Ajax an initial €20m fee which could rise to €27m depending on his appearances and other clauses. When the deal does officially go through, Huntelaar will become the sixth Dutch player in the current Madrid team, with Arjen Robben, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart and Royston Drenthe being the other four.

Huntelaar has already passed a medical, and should he agree to personal terms, will be at the Bernabeu till June 2013. The 25 year old will also be eligible to compete in the latter stages of Madrid’s Champions League campaign this season.

Heading to the Bernabeu- Klaas Jan Huntelaar ( Photo originally taken by postproduktie.nl)
Heading to the Bernabeu- Klaas Jan Huntelaar ( Photo originally taken by postproduktie.nl)

Huntelaar’s former club, SC Heerenveen, will also get some €2.5 million from the deal. Huntelaar had joined Ajax from Heerenveen for €9 million + incentives in 2005.

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Burnley 2-0 Arsenal- Carling Cup quarterfinal

Arsenal’s Carling Cup campaign came to an end on Tuesday night at Turf Moor when they were beaten 2-0 by a well organised Burnley side. Kevin McDonald scored both the goals for Burnley, who have now added Arsenal to Fulham and Chelsea in the list of London clubs they have knocked out of the Carling Cup this season. In the other quarterfinal, Derby stunned Stoke City at the Britannia stadium, with Nathan Ellington converting an injury time penalty after Andy Griffin had handled the ball in the Stoke box.

McDonald gave Burnley a shock lead in the 6th minute, after Lukas Fabianski failed to take control of Chris Eagles’ cross from the right. The ball fell to McDonald, who duly did the rest. McDonald doubled Burnley’s lead twelve minutes after half time, out muscling Mark Randall and firing past Fabianski from an Eagles throw in.

Arsenal’s youngsters, with an average age of 18.7 were excellent, but paid for their profligacy in front of goal. Danish stopper Brian Jensen, hero of the shoot out against Chelsea, also had an outstanding day in between the sticks, denying Nicklas Bendtner, Mark Randall and Carlos Vela to keep Burnley’s lead intact. Bendtner, starting ahead of Jay Simpson, had a frustrating night as he just could not get the ball into the Burnley net despite some wonderful attacking play from the Gunners. Wenger also gave Paul Rodgers his debut alongside Mikael Silvestre in defence.

The Carling dream is over for Arsenal's youngsters
The Carling dream is over for Arsenal's youngsters

Arsenal were clinical in the way they had dumped Wigan and Sheffield United out, but Burnley away was always going to be a tough test. Owen Coyle got his tactics right, and Burnley were deserving winners at the end of the night.

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Hamburg fined 35,000 euros

German club Hamburger SV have been fined €35,000 by the DFB Discplinary Panel for the behaviour of their supporters against Werder Bremen’s Frank Baumann when the two clubs met in the Bundesliga on November 23.

Werder skipper Baumann was struck on the left cheekbone by a mobile phone battery thrown from the crowd at the Nordbank Arena. Hamburg won the game 2-1, with goals coming from Jose Guerrero and Ivica Olic.

This is not the first time that Hamburg have had to pay a fine.

In October 2006, they were ordered to pay €20,000 after a glass bottle hit Bremen keeper Tim Wiese in the face.

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