Real in for Van der Vaart

Spanish and European powerhouse Real Madrid are said to be forcing ahead with their bid for the SV Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart although the player himself is not so keen at all.

The links between Real and Van der Vaart were established last week when latest reports from Spain suggested that Real were frustrated by the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer drag and were now looking elsewhere for a star and the notorious Spanish papers reported that the star was Van der Vaart.The Dutch international midfielder is a graduate of the famous Ajax youth academy and was signed by Hamburg in the summer of 2005. He has been a consistent performer for the German side since then.

Madrid based Spanish sports daily AS reports that Madrid are now keen on landing the creative playmaker at the Bernabeu this summer. It quotes a Real Madrid personnel as saying that Hamburg would benefit financially from this deal.

The Real Madrid source said:

"Hamburg knows that next year they can only charge £750,000 for the sale of the lad, so if they accept this proposal they will earn a capital gain of £4-6 million. It would be a good deal for both sides."