Manchester United Transfer Gossip: Red Devils to Make Surprising £12m January Bid for Dutch Hitman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar? (VIDEO)

If the reported rumors ahead of the January transfer window are to be believed, Manchester United are looking forward to making a very-surprising £12 million bid for Dutch targetman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar with Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov set to leave Old Trafford this January.

Huntelaar, 28, currently, has regained his form following his disappointing stints with Real Madrid and AC Milan, and United are hoping to cash in on the opportunity to bring him to the Red Devils’ lair this January itself. Huntelaar’s contract with German club Schalke will expire in 2013 and the club may be compelled to sell him in January rather than risk losing him cheaply in the summer.

Elsewhere, United’s Berbatov will know that his service may no longer be required at the club with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck already making a name for themselves as established strikers. Sir Alex will look to make the best use of the £30 million that the club used to purchase Berbatov, and may use the Bulgarian as a part of a swap deal with Schalke for the Dutchman.

Huntelaar, thus far, has netted an impressive 16 goals in 18 appearances this season, according to a Caughtoffside report.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, nicknamed The Hunter, is known to be a prolific striker with brilliant technique and athleticism, and has also been compared in style to players such as Marco van Basten and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

He started his career with Dutch club PSV and made his first team debut on November 2002 in a 0–3 away win over RBC Roosendaal, coming on as a second half substitute for Mateja Kezman in the 76th minute. He later joined Heerenveen in 2004, but not before being loaned to De Graafschap and AGOVV. At Heerenveen, Huntelaar made 46 appearances and scored 33 times.

In January 2006 Huntelaar signed for Ajax, the club he had supported as a child. Heerenveen, on the other hand, received €9 million plus future incentives for the player, with 15% (€1.35 million) of the fee going to PSV. Huntelaar ended the season as top scorer for Ajax with 16 league goals in 16 appearances despite only joining in January, and also finished up as the Eredivise's top scorer with 33 league goals. In total, he scored 76 goals for Ajax in 92 games.

His form took a slight beating in 2008 following the high-profile move to Santiago Bernabeu with Real Madrid and he only appeared in 20 games where he still managed to score eight times. This was followed by his move to the Italian Serie A with AC Milan in 2009 where he made 25 appearances and managed to score seven times.

He is currently serving at Schalke 04 in the German Bundesliga, where he has been a hit upfront with former Real Madrid team mate Raul.