Suarez factor to give Liverpool edge in signing former strike partner
Published:Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is almost guaranteed to be a wanted man next summer, but even if Liverpool fail to offer the biggest reward for his services, the opportunity to link up again with Luis Suarez may be enough to turn the Dutchman’s head.
After largely failed spells at Real Madrid and AC Milan, Huntelaar has been a revelation at Schalke, scoring 29 goals in just 32 Bundesliga starts last season.
He has already netted another five for Schalke in the current campaign and the Germans must be getting more than nervous over what they will do if Huntelaar fails to agree to a new contract.
With the Dutchman’s current deal up at the end of the season, Huntelaar will be free to start negotiating with others in January.
Liverpool are one club desperately needing to strengthen in the striker department, with Suarez short on competition at present with Andy Carroll loaned out to West Ham and Fabio Borini injured for as long as three months.
Huntelaar would almost be the ideal recruit and would allow the rekindling of one of the most deadly strike partnerships in Europe from recent seasons.
Although it has to be taken with a pinch of salt because the goals were scored in the Dutch top-flight, the pair scored 50 Eredivisie goals between them in 2007/08 and in total struck a mammoth 82 goals in 60 games together at Ajax.
Meanwhile, Huntelaar will represent the ultimate predator that Liverpool need, as he is more than a threat in the air and scores the lion’s share of his goals from around the six-yard box.
As Suarez is deemed to be one of the most wasteful finishers in England, if Liverpool could get Huntelaar into similar positions, there is a strong case that they will be more serious challengers for a top-four finish.
Liverpool’s rocky start that has seen them take just six points from their opening seven games means that they have drifted to 9/1 to finish in the top four this season after some early backing in this market.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
