Van Der Vaart

[RedReet]

Availabe for £1m after next season. Could have tempted them with a bid this year before we signed Yossi.

VAN DER VAART KEEPS OPTIONS OPEN
Hamburg captain Rafael van der Vaart admits the forthcoming season could be his last with the club.

The Holland midfielder, who has a contract with the German outfit until 2010, has played a starring role since joining from Ajax two years ago and knows a dream move could be on the cards if he continues to shine this term.

He has recently turned down a new contract with Hamburg, and could therefore leave for a contractually-agreed 1.5 million euros (£1m) in 2009.

Since he will not alter that clause in his contract, Hamburg would effectively be forced to listen to offers for the 24-year-old next summer.

"It could be that I move on next year," he conceded in Sport Bild magazine.

"I have always said honestly that you should never make promises in football."

Previously, his team-mate and compatriot Joris Mathijsen had fuelled speculation that the talented midfielder would leave Hamburg next summer.

He said: "I think this season will be his last. If he has another good season and then a good European Championships, he is gone."

That could all change if Hamburg can give him the platform to fulfil his ambitions, though.

"It is my aim to play at a top club who are always fighting for the title and for victory in the Champions League," he added

[dww]

I think Benayoun was a better option - basically due to being a right sided player and PL adapted. VdV has been very inconsistent from what I've heard and is a left sided player and so would be competing against Babel in terms of this summers signings and I would say that Bable is a better bet in terms of potential and lack of known problems.

[Marky]

He's ****e.

[RedReet]

I was lead to believe he was doing well in Germany, maybe not. I agree that for this season there was more need for a right-sided player (Yossi), but I used him as an example because on paper he was bought to replace Garcia as the playmaker, not necessarily on the right.

Don't think we need him, hence putting the story in this section for general interest, just was surprised he had a £1m clause.

[PLY]

All the bloos on dodgy rumours think he's going to them!
http://www.football-rumours.co.uk/

[RedReet]

All the bloos on dodgy rumours think he's going to them!
http://www.football-rumours.co.uk/

Where will that leave Juan Roman to play?

[dww]

I was lead to believe he was doing well in Germany, maybe not. I agree that for this season there was more need for a right-sided player (Yossi), but I used him as an example because on paper he was bought to replace Garcia as the playmaker, not necessarily on the right.

Don't think we need him, hence putting the story in this section for general interest, just was surprised he had a £1m clause.

I've heard he was brilliant the season before last, terrible for the first half of last season then rediscovered his form.

I don't think anyone has directly replaced Garcia. I think the best way to look at it is as players who will compete to be in our front four and complement other players who might do that. In that sense we have Kewell, Aurelio, Babel, Pennant, Gerrard, Voronin, Kuyt, Crouch and Torres. Within that we need players who complement each other. I think that Benayoun and Babel have been bough to give the option of players who will cut in from the right and left respectively and possibly swap. In that sense I think that they can be compared to Garcia's position in the squad but the balance would have been given in the squad even if we kept Garia and signed Benayoun IMO (I accept some people like Garcia on the right but I'm less sold on this).