Real Madrid and Holland international midfielder Rafael van der Vaart says he would listen to offers from both Liverpool and Chelsea if they offered him first team football. The 27 year old said:
“I have heard of the interest from Liverpool and Chelsea – and that is very flattering. If either of them were willing to offer me first-team football, I will be honest that it would be very hard for me to not listen to what they had to say. “I think I have the relationship with Madrid where they understand my position and would let me hold talks. I expect the majority of transfers to be concluded in the next two weeks, and if Chelsea or Liverpool wanted to talk with me I would at the very least listen to what they have to say. They are both giants, and if they could offer first-team football it may prove impossible to turn down. Real Madrid is the most prestigious club in the world and I am happy here and also in Spain, but I am at the age where I have to be playing first-team football. I am getting to the point where I will be hitting my peak years and I need to spend those years at a club where I will be playing regularly. The boss knows how much he plans to use me, and if he is willing to listen to offers for me. I wouldn’t be willing to play for any clubs in Spain out of respect for Madrid, so in my eyes the only other place to go would be the Premier League. It’s the only league that competes with the standard of La Liga.”
Van der Vaart has appeared 83 times for the Netherlands and came on as a substitute in the World Cup final against Spain.
although i consider him world class, i don’t think signing this type of player would be very high on my priority list, if there is enough money left after buying 2 quality left backs, a winger and a world class striker then sure, but let’s get our priorities in order first
Poor man’s Schneider, if he can’t get in Madrid’s team then why should we spend £10m + for him? Also factor in the 80k a week wages and a nice signing on fee of a couple of million pounds which we don’t have.
Good points about left backs and strikers being a priority, which I agree, but when and not if Mascherano leaves he’d be an ideal replacement.
@ETIPOK, there’s no way VDV could be JM’s replacement, 2 totally different midfielders, rafael is an attack-minded flair player while JM is a defensive jack russell, van der vaart is a luxury player we simply can’t afford at the minute, unless roy is considering off-loading aquilani, only then would i consider a bid, but then again, is joe cole not demanding that kind of role? like i said before, sort out the priority positions and masch’s replacement first, then think about strength in depth
We couldn’t offer him first team football with Gerrard, Aquilani and Cole on the books, plus Pacheco and Shelvey waiting for the opportunity to prove themselves in the middle. It would’ve made sense to snatch him up in the Alonso deal last year, but now it is too late and we need to focus on strengthening other areas, starting with a quality winger
Don’t repost other people lies:
“I’m determined to stay at Real Madrid,” Van der Vaart told De Telegraaf.
“I want to stay here and succeed at Real. It’s a shame that the English press has misquoted me. They’ve written things that are simply not true.”