Article
04 December 2008
Laura Navas / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was escorted by Alfredo di Stéfano and Ramón Calderón during his official presentation, which followed the signing of his new contract with Real Madrid.
RAMÓN CALDERÓN
“I wish to welcome all of you here today; Board Members, fans, the player’s family, journalists... The Sports Directors of this Club always believed that future signings had to adjust to a specific profile: young, but incredibly prepared players. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar fits this description to perfection."
"He is 25 years old, but at 14 had already scored 33 goals in 20 games. He played for a great club -Ajax Amsterdam-, in the past three seasons, during which he scored 70 strikes. He has been the Eredivisie’s top-scorer twice and he was named Most Talented Player in 2006. He has already won two league titles and two Dutch Super Cups. He recently won the Bronze Boot. He has also been an undisputed starter with the Netherlands 18 times despite his young age, scoring 10 goals in total. He won the Euro with the Under-21 Dutch side in 2006 and became the competition’s top-scorer."
"All this proves Huntelaar fits the description I mentioned earlier. We are very happy because we’ve been able to sign him despite the fact that he’s been greatly sought-after by the most important clubs in Europe. He will probably start running around and scoring many goals in this stadium come 4 January."
"We would have surely signed him next summer anyway, but Ruud’s unfortunate injury forced us to do so now. We are very happy and we hope he makes us proud in the next four and a half years. Welcome to Real Madrid Klaas-Jan.”
Following the President's speech, Huntelaar wished to say a few words in Spanish: “I want to thank Don Alfredo di Stéfano and President Calderón. I wish to score many goals. Thank you everybody.”