Stuttgart ready to pay 'extraordinary money for Huntelaar

(Reuters)

Stuttgart chairman Erwin Staudt has said the club are willing to part with 'extraordinary money' to sign Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid.

Real have confirmed that negotiations are ongoing over the sale of the player, who only arrived in Spain in January.

The Netherlands international is seen as surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu following the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema.

Huntelaar had been linked with a move to the Premier League, but the Bundesliga club are keen to sign the former Ajax player to replace Mario Gomez.

"Extraordinary players require extraordinary investments as they cost extraordinary money," Staudt told Stuttgarter Zeitung.

"We will not be buying a substitute because we are also developing very good players in our own academy.

"We need a key player, a top-class man for the future.

"Such signatures require time and money, and we are willing to invest time and money into buying this player."

Elsewhere, Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg have completed a deal to bring Fabian Johnson to the club from 1860 Munich.

The 21-year-old defender arrives at the Volkswagen Arena for an undisclosed fee and has penned a three-year deal with the Wolves.

Johnson was part of the Germany team that lifted the European Under-21 championship in Sweden last month and has made 90 appearances for 1860.

"Johnson is a huge talent and he's still getting better and better. I'm convinced that he will continue improving as a player at Wolfsburg," manager Armin Veh told the club's official website.