Real Madrid has agreed to sign Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Ajax for an initial €20 million (US$25.4 million).

The Dutch club said on its Web site that it could receive up to €27 million for its captain, who was injured but will move to the defending Spanish champion in the January transfer window.

Madrid confirmed the transfer yesterday, saying the move was subject to Huntelaar passing a medical examination and signing a contract through June 30, 2013.

"I'm happy for Klaas-Jan, let me say that first," Ajax coach Marco van Basten said. "From a sporting point of view, we would have preferred to keep him until the end of the season. But it's logical that if a team like Real Madrid makes an approach that it is very difficult to keep him here."

Huntelaar would be the sixth Dutch player in Madrid's lineup and was seen as a replacement for fellow Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery last month.

Madrid was fourth in the league, six points behind leader Barcelona, and struggling with a handful of its internationals out with injuries.

The 25-year-old Huntelaar will arrive at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium still recovering from a torn left ankle ligament, although he was expected to be ready to return to action by January.

Ajax captain Huntelaar, who has scored 10 goals in 18 internationals and 75 in 90 Dutch league games, has long been linked with the Spanish champion.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily December 3, 2008)