AMSTERDAM – According to technical director Earnie Stewart, AZ Alkmaar strike ace Jozy Altidore has been scouted in person this season by the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Answering a fan question on the official club website, Stewart also confirmed that the Kaasboeren knocked back a summer offer for Altidore from an unnamed eastern European capital power.
"I do not rule out that someone displays interest for Jozy in the winter stop or at the end of the season," Stewart stated. "He is developing great, is a target for the team, plays football and also translates that into goals. That is not going unnoticed abroad.
"This season, there are often scouts of big clubs such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the AZ grandstand."
Altidore has bagged 31 goals in 63 matches across all competition since arriving from Villarreal prior to last season. He is the only American striker to have scored in four top-flight European leagues, scoring one goal each in stints with Hull City in England, Villarreal in Spain and Bursaspor in Turkey before his shift to the Netherlands.
This term, Altidore has nine goals in 12 games, a total good for second on the league chart. The powerful forward also has a joint team-high three assists, meaning that he has been statistically involved in almost two-thirds of AZ's 19 goals on the season.
