Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's long-term future at Ajax is
under fresh doubt after the Holland striker failed to agree a new
contract with the club.
Ajax technical director Danny Blind admitted to De
Telegraaf that contract talks had failed in large part because
Huntelaar wanted a release clause written into the deal but felt
Ajax wanted to set the price too high.
The striker has been linked with a big-money to the Premier
League, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool among
his potential suitors.
"When you look at the Ajax salary structure he could get a huge
deal," Blind said. "But he doesn't want to see a release clause set
at 25 million euros in his contract. We didn't want to go any
lower."
However, Blind insists the breakdown in talks does not mean
Huntelaar will leave the club any time soon.
"We don't want to see Klaas Jan leave us," he said. "The bar is
high. We would like to keep our top scorer in Amsterdam. If he
doesn't want to sign a new contract, he still has a deal for the
next two years."
Blind also holds out hope that Huntelaar might reconsider.
"The negotiations are stalled," he said. "We have agreed on the
fact that Ajax will speak with all clubs that come in for
Huntelaar. If the interested clubs don't want to pay what we we ask
for, then we hope that we can start new talks with Klaas Jan
again."