Italian agent Alberto Faccini, who is close to Huntelaar's representative Arnold Oosterveer, revealed: "There are teams in Spain and England that want to sign him. Among these is Real Madrid, which is following the lad very closely.

"There are also words of praise from Van Nistelrooy, who is pushing his name hard to Madrid."

Indeed, Van Nistelrooy said of Huntelaar this week: "Huntelaar is a great forward. He is a great finisher. I would sign him. Here, he would score plenty of goals. I'm sure he would succeed in Madrid."