According to sources close to the player, Hamburgs Dutch
captain Rafael van der Vaart will leave the club at the end of the
next season.
HSV will not be able to hold on to Rafael beyond next season says
van der Vaarts fellow countryman and friend Joris Mathijsen.
Mathijsen, a team mate at Hamburg and a close friend, has urged the
clubs management to start the search for a replacement.
He is a player who is very important to the team. If Rafael has
another good season and has a good European Championship, then I
think he will be off.
Although van der Vaart is under contract at Hamburg until 2010, if
the club wish to get the market value for the player (15 million)
then they will have to release him at the end of the coming
campaign.
In his contract the midfielder has a clause that guarantees that he
would be able to leave for 1 million in 2009.
Club chairman Dieter Hoffmann and Sports director Dietmar
Beiersdorfer have for the past few weeks been endeavouring to get
van der Vaart to commit to a contract extension. However the
player's advisor Siren Lerby has indicated this is not an
option.
The idea of the club buying the early release clause back has also
been suggested. The club are also prepared to increase the
Dutchmans wages from 2 million per year to 3.5 million.
Juventus were linked with a move for van der Vaart earlier in the
summer but nothing came of it.
However they and many other top clubs will surely be sniffing
around at the end of the season as the pressure mounts for Hamburg
to cash-in on their star player.
