Rafael van der Vaart Reportedly Agrees To Deal With Hamburg

Rafael van der Vaart has agreed to a three-year deal with Hamburg, but the German club and Tottenham Hotspur are still nearly £5 million apart on the transfer fee, according to Bild. This continues a summer full of rumors that HSV want van der Vaart and that the Dutchman would be happy to return to the club he spent three years with earlier in his career.

Apparently, Hamburg are offering £10 million for van der Vaart, while Daniel Levy is insisting upon a hair under £15 million. That is roughly the same gap that has reportedly existed since the rumors started flying at the beginning of the summer so why is this report different from the other ones from months ago?

It is not that van der Vaart has apparently agreed to a deal with Hamburg. His wife still works in Germany, he is still beloved at the Volksparkstadion and he knows that he is being edged out at Tottenham so him agreeing with HSV was never going to be a problem.

Wait, that last part. The being edged out thing. Yup, that's what makes it different now than the rumors from June.

In June, van der Vaart was leaving because he was welcome back at Hamburg and Spurs wanted to make a profit on the 29-year-old before he got older and his value decreased. That was enough reason to make the rumor somewhat believable, but nothing more.

Now the above is true, but Tottenham also have a new manager who favors a 4-3-3 that doesn't have a place for a player like van der Vaart. They also have two players who can play in the Dutchman's role now in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Moussa Dembele so even if the formation switch takes a while, Spurs don't need van der Vaart.

There really is no need to keep van der Vaart now, and the last chance to make a profit on him remains. He really is a luxury at this point.

Ideally, Spurs would buy Hugo Lloris and and a winger, maybe Willian before Friday, but as of now it is tough to imagine them finding the money for both. That changes if Levy can manage £15 million for van der Vaart. Do that, buy Lloris for £15 million and Willian for £20 million and the team is only down £6 million for the entire summer. That's not too shabby for a a nearly complete makeover.

So is this report true? Bild has some excellent contacts in Germany and when something does happen in the land of delicious beer and brats, they often break the news. They also publish things that are complete B.S. so whether you believe this story is a matter of whether your coin came down heads or tails. It is certainly a believable report.

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