"I want to go to Spain, and that is the end of it," Van der Vaart told the Bild am Sonntag. "In May, (Hamburg president Bernd) Hoffmann came to me and asked how they could make me happier. I said that I wanted to move to Spain and that I would always like to consider any such offers, and he agreed. "Then a team came in, and suddenly I am not for sale at any price.
Hamburg bought the player from Ajax two seasons ago for a fee of 5 million euro but if they were to sell the Dutch 24 year old now they could be in line for as much as 25 million euro. I personally would love to see the player play in a better league (with all due respect to the Bundesliga). When he first signed for Hamburg, I was extremely surprised because I was sure he was going to join someone like Real or Manchester United.