Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder has declared that his Dutch international teammate Rafael van der Vaart is very much inclined to move to Real.

Speaking to the Madrid based Spanish sports daily, the former Ajax star said that the SV Hamburg playmaker Rafael van der Vaart is very much eager to move to the Bernabeu but is not sure whether he can do that this season or not.

Sneijder told AS: " I can say that Rafael is a great footballer. I played four seasons with him at Ajax and also many games with the Dutch national team. We have always been together in the centre of the field.

"He wants to play for Real Madrid, but does not know yet whether it will be possible to do so this season."

AS have linked Real Madrid with a move to sign the Ajax graduate Van der Vaart since Real appear to be losing out on their bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.

Rafael van der Vaart himself has refused to acknowledge that he wants to move anywhere this summer but is contemplative that he might move out of the AOL arena next summer.