The 24-year-old is one of European football's major transfer targets this summer after a prolific three-and-a-half years with the Dutch Eredivisie giants.

Ajax are now ready to sell Huntelaar to the highest bidder after confirming the capture of Serbian starlet Miralem Sulejmani for £12.9million - a record fee between Dutch clubs.

Sulejmani is following in the footsteps of Huntelaar in switching from Heerenveen, and in turn Huntelaar is keen to emulate the career of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who made a successful switch from his native Holland to United in 2001.

Van Nistelrooy went on to score 150 goals in 200 starts during his Old Trafford career, and Huntelaar's pedigree suggests he could make the same impact in the Premier League.

United are yet to make a major summer signing and are now expected to move quickly in an attempt to secure Huntelaar for a fee of around £20million.