Biography of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Dirk Klaas Jan Huntelaar, commonly known as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is a Dutch international soccer player. He plays in the striker position for German Bundesliga club Schalke 04 and also the Netherlands national soccer team . Huntelaar is a world renowned player and often praised for his brilliant ball game, athleticism and technique. It is no wonder that he is compared to football legends like Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Marco van Basten. The player has also been listed as the best in the world in the penalty area. Huntelaar has played for various clubs such as PSV, De Graafschap , AGOVV Apeldoorn , Heerenveen , Ajax ,Real Madrid and Milan . His current team is Schalke 04. He also plays for his nation of the Netherlands. His net worth is $35 million today.

Early life of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

He was born on August 12, 1983 in Voor-Drempt, Gelderland in the Netherlands. He is the son of Dirk-Jan and Maud Huntelaar. He has two brothers Niek and Jelle. At the age of five, Huntelaar, along with his two brothers, joined the local soccer team VV H. in K., where he played for the next six years.

Club and international career of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Huntelaar was interested in soccer from a very young age. He was associated with the local soccer team VV H. en K at the age of five. There he enriched his football talent for six years. Later, being selected by De Graafschap as an emerging talent, he signed his first youth contract at the age of 11 on April 6, 1994. There he excelled best as a striker after experimenting in other positions such as wings, midfield, defender . and even goalkeeper. It was the 1997-98 season that made him a household name on the soccer field when he proved himself a potential striker for top teams scoring 33 goals in 20 games for the club’s third division side. He then was signed by PSV.
PSV

He proved himself in his first season with PSV as he scored 26 goals in 23 games for their youth teams and also became the league’s top scorer. He made his first-team debut on 23 November 2002. Huntelaar was unlikely to start for the senior team when the 2003 season began, and he was later loaned out to De Graafschap. On February 8, 2003, Klass made his senior team debut with De Graafschap.

Huntelaar returned to PSV when the season ended, but was loaned out again to AGOVV on 1 August 2003. He scored 27 goals in his 37 games. When he ended the loan from AGOVV, he did not sign the new contract with PSV. He was later signed by SC Heerenveen for €900,000. Ajax moved on to other clubs to secure it midway through the 2005-06 season.

ajax

He was signed by Ajax for 9 million euros. The player spent 3 years in the clubs and scored the number of goals and netted 76 goals in his 92 appearances for the club. The player was then presented with the Real Madrid team. He spent the short time with the Spanish team scoring 8 goals in 20 games.

He was signed by the Spanish team for 27 million euros. After Real Madrid, Huntelaar moved to Italian Milan. He was signed for 15 million euros. He played 25 games for the Italian national team and scored 7 goals.

German club Schalke 04 presented him at a price of €14 million on August 31, 2010. So far, he has played 100 games for the German club and scored 59 goals. Since then he has played with the Schalke 04 team. Huntelaar revealed him on the continental arena with SC Heerenveen after playing in the European Cup.

international career

Huntelaar made his way to the Netherlands under-21 team in 2001. He played in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. He scored 2 goals in the tournament. He has scored a total of 18 goals in his 23 games for the Netherlands under-21 team.

Huntelaar brought the Netherlands senior team to a head start in the friendly match against the Republic of Ireland on 16 August 2006. Huntelaar scored 2 and assisted 2 goals in their 4–0 win. He scored his first competitive international goal in the Euro 2008 qualifying matches as the Netherlands beat Slovenia 2–0. He then made an appearance for him at Euro 2008.

Huntelaar was also in the final squad of 23 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was also involved in qualifying for Euro 2012. So far, he has scored 34 goals for his senior Dutch team and is just 7 goals shy of the all-time record of 41 goals by Manchester United star and fellow prolific Dutch striker Robin van Persie. .

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Net Worth and Salary

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s net worth is $35 million today. He earns an annual salary of $8 million from his successful playing career. He played for Amsterdam for two years and was the league’s top scorer in both seasons, scoring 76 goals in 92 games.

He was signed by Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam, who paid $12 million for the striker. He scored nine goals in seven games for Ajax, including against Italian Serie A side Internazionale in his UEFA Champions League debut.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar honors and achievements

Huntelaar was the top scorer in the Eerste Divisie in the 2003-04 season. He was named Eerste Divisie Player of the Season for the same season. He became the top scorer in the Eredivisie in the years 2005-06 and 2007-08. He became the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 29 goals in the 2011-12 season. He was named Eredivisie Talent of the Year in 2005-06. He became the top scorer in the UEFA Under-21 Championship and was also named the Golden Player in 2006. He became the top scorer in the UEFA Euro Qualification in 2012.

He was also successful in naming himself the Dutch Under-21 All-time Top Goalscorer. He has been FC Schalke 04’s top scorer in UEFA competitions with 17 goals so far. These are his personal achievements so far.

With Ajax, Huntelaar won the KNVB Cup in 2005-06 and 2006-07. He also won the Johan Cruyff Shield in 2006 and 2007 for Ajax. With Schalke 04, he won the DFB-Pokal in 2020-11 and the DFL-Supercup in 2011. He was the man on the Dutch Under-21 team that won the UEFA Under-21 Championship in 2006. He was also on the Dutch team , who was runner-up in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was born to Dirk-Jan and Maud Huntelaar. He has two brothers Niek and Jelle. It has also come to light that the Dutch international and Schalke 04 striker have been in a relationship with his partner Maddy Schoolderman since 2000.

He has two children. The couple had their first child on April 9, 2009. The baby was named Seb. They had their second child Alex on July 20, 2011.

He stands at a height of 1.86 meters and weighs 78 kg. He is the player on the right foot. He is active on Twitter and Instagram with thousands of followers.