Hamburg Boss Admits Van Der Vaart Interest; Rafa Thinks He's Staying Put

Since Tottenham Hotspur signed Gylfi Sigurdsson, rumors have been floating around about a potential return to the Bundesliga for Rafael Van der Vaart. Schalke's CEO has stated that they're no longer interested, but Thomas Fink, the boss of his former club Hamburg, is singing a different tune.

They're very interested, though Fink didn't come right out and say that Hamburg are going after Van der Vaart. He also acknowledged that a transfer fee and contract for Van der Vaart would cost a lot of money, which Hamburg may or may not have to spend on one player. Fink's quotes are below the jump.

Here they be.

"We have drawn up a target profile and Rafael van der Vaart would be an ideal fit. Any coach would be delighted to have him. Rafael is a very good player and he would be very interesting for Hamburg if we had the money to pay for him. And we are not lacking just a little, we are talking about a great deal of money.''

Spurs are unlikely to let Van der Vaart go for less than £10m, and even though he might be willing to cut down his wages a bit to play for his former club, he'd probably still want in the neighborhood of £70k a week. Hamburg has not been against paying wages like that before, and they should have the money. Jose Paolo Guerrero, who makes about that much, is being sold to Corinthians in Brazil.

Of course, Rafa has always said that he doesn't plan on leaving Tottenham anytime soon when he's been asked about transfers, and he hasn't changed his mind.

"It's unbelievable how my name is speculated around Europe. I can only say these are only speculations. I will probably stay at Tottenham."

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