Madrid Hunting Down Klaas And Milito

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster may be finally getting the new striker that he has long demanded as the club look to have yielded to his request.

Aug 20, 2008 4:16:56 AM

Diego Milito - Zaragoza (Marca)

Teams

According to Catalan-based newspaper, Sport, the Real Madrid hierarchy have begun a last minute operation to recruit in a top class striker, as per coach Bernd Schuster’s orders.

The board at the ‘White House’ has apparently given in to the German’s wishes after previously telling the trainer that he would not be getting a new striker to provide cover for the aging Raúl and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

But after much commotion in the media yesterday, sporting director Predrag Mijatovic is eager to avoid an explosive confrontation with his coach and it is now reported that he will begin looking into prospective signings for the ‘Number 9’ role.

Although Didier Drogba remains the number one preference for Schuster, the club has essentially withered the options down to two names: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Diego Milito.

Mijatovic is believed to be an admirer of Huntelaar but Schuster has confessed before that the Dutchman’s style does not quite fit into team’s system and game plan. But with less than two weeks to go before La Liga kicks off, the ex-Getafe técnico is now reportedly open to the idea.

The second option, Diego Milito, is more viable. He is a player that would interest Schuster greatly as he is much faster and versatile and he can easily adapt to any attacking position that he is required to play in. In addition, he is also already familiar with La Liga, unlike Huntelaar who may require some time adjusting to his new environment.

It is also believed that the 25 year old Ajax hitman is unwilling to join Los Merengues to play second fiddle and he will only agree to any personal contract that guarantees him regular first team football as he continues to push to cement his status in the Dutch national set-up.

On the other hand, negotiations with Diego Milito would be much more straightforward. Even though he has a buy-out clause of €100 million, his club Real Zaragoza are well aware that they cannot hang on to their top marksmen while playing in the Segunda División and they have already shown that they are prepared to put him on the transfer market and listen to offers.

Madrid valuate the 29 year old Argentine at €20 million, a figure that they would have no problems dishing out and a fee that Zaragoza might happily accept.

Over the last four seasons or so at club level, Huntelaar has scored 104 goals in 128 games, while Diego Milito has notched up 84 goals in 167 appearances.

KS Leong