Highly-rated Holland striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar has failed to agree a new contract with Ajax.
Huntelaar has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and Arsenal, after his goalscoring exploits for the Eredivisie side.
Ajax technical director Danny Blind admitted that contract talks had failed partly because Huntelaar wanted a release clause written into the deal but felt Ajax wanted to set the price too high.
"When you look at the Ajax salary structure he could get a huge deal," Blind told De Telegraaf.
"But he doesn't want to see a release clause set at 25million euros (£19.75million) 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 ask for, then we hope that we can start new talks with Klaas Jan again."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| 17:45 | Roda JC vs AZ |
| 18:45 | NAC vs NEC |
| 18:45 | RKC vs FC Groningen |
| 19:45 | FC Twente vs Vitesse |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| 11:30 | Feyenoord vs FC Utrecht |
| 13:30 | Ajax vs Heerenveen |
| 13:30 | VVV vs Sparta |
| 13:30 | Willem II vs ADO Den Haag |
| 15:30 | PSV vs Heracles |
| Friday 27th November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| 19:45 | Sparta vs PSV |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| 17:45 | AZ vs VVV |
| 18:45 | Heerenveen vs RKC |
| 18:45 | Heracles vs Roda JC |
| 19:45 | Willem II vs FC Twente |
| Sunday 29th November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| 11:30 | ADO Den Haag vs Feyenoord |
| 11:30 | Vitesse vs Ajax |
| 13:30 | FC Groningen vs NEC |
| 13:30 | FC Utrecht vs NAC |
| Friday 4th December | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| 19:45 | AZ vs Vitesse |
| 19:45 | NAC vs Sparta |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| NAC 4 - 0 Willem II | |
| FC Utrecht 2 - 3 Heerenveen | |
| ADO Den Haag 1 - 5 PSV | |
| FC Twente 1 - 0 Ajax | |
| AZ 1 - 1 Feyenoord | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| Vitesse 2 - 0 VVV | |
| Sparta 1 - 2 Roda JC | |
| NEC 0 - 1 RKC | |
| Friday 6th November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| FC Groningen 4 - 1 Heracles | |
| Sunday 1st November | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| Ajax 5 - 1 Feyenoord | |
| RKC 0 - 1 Willem II | |
| Heracles 3 - 1 FC Utrecht | |
| Sparta 2 - 0 NEC | |
| Saturday 31st October | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| Heerenveen 3 - 0 ADO Den Haag | |
| Roda JC 1 - 2 FC Twente | |
| FC Groningen 0 - 1 AZ | |
| PSV 1 - 0 Vitesse | |
| Friday 30th October | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| VVV 1 - 1 NAC | |
| Sunday 25th October | |
| Dutch Eredivisie | |
| FC Twente 4 - 0 FC Groningen | |
| AZ 2 - 4 Ajax | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Twente | 13 | 35 |
| 2 | PSV Eindhoven | 13 | 33 |
| 3 | Ajax | 13 | 29 |
| 4 | Feyenoord | 13 | 24 |
| 5 | FC Utrecht | 13 | 22 |
| 6 | NAC Breda | 13 | 20 |
| 7 | Heracles Almelo | 13 | 20 |
| 8 | AZ Alkmaar | 13 | 19 |
| 9 | Sparta Rotterdam | 13 | 17 |
| 10 | Vitesse Arnhem | 13 | 14 |
| 11 | Heerenveen | 13 | 14 |
| 12 | Groningen | 13 | 13 |
| 13 | Willem II | 13 | 13 |
| 14 | Roda JC Kerk | 13 | 13 |
| 15 | ADO Den Haag | 13 | 12 |
| 16 | VVV | 13 | 11 |
| 17 | NEC Nijmegen | 13 | 11 |
| 18 | RKC | 13 | 6 |
Barca and Real both won, Gers closed the gap on Celtic while Lyon and Marseille drew 5-5.
Sunderland fan Lucinda Gittins was strutting her stuff in the Soccer AM studios this week.
Barca were stunned by a late leveller, Gers' match was abandoned while Inter march on in Serie A.
Groningen are waiting to discover if Oluwafemi Ajilore will be available to face RKC Waalwijk.
Roda JC Kerkrade have been unable to sign trialist Sebastian Svard due to financial constraints.
Wiljan Vloet is confident he can revive NEC's fortunes after being appointed as the club's new boss.
AZ Alkmaar midfielder Rasmus Elm has brushed off rumours that he could join Blackburn Rovers in January.
Former Holland international Erwin Koeman has hinted at an interest in taking over as coach of Groningen.