Andre Villas-Boas has ruled out the exit of Rafael Van Der Vaart despite the re-emergence of reports linking the Dutchman to former club Hamburg.
The Tottenham manager said that he has no intention of selling the player and has stated that the midfielder is very much a part of his plans with Tottenham Hotspur.
The Portuguese manager is a huge admirer of the Dutch star, and is happy to have him in the squad. Van Der Vaart arrived from Real Madrid two seasons ago in the closing hours of the 2010/2011 transfer window.
The move surprised many people as Tottenham bought such a quality player for only £8 million. Ever since his arrival, Van Der Vaart has become somewhat of a cult figure at White Hart Lane and has established himself as an integral part of the squad.
The attacker featured for the side regularly under former manager Harry Redknapp and has scored 24 goals in 62 appearances. However, the arrival of Villas-Boas and new signing Gylfi Sigurdsson raised doubts over the player’s future in North London. Many
expected the player to return to former club Hamburg, with many of Hamburg’s management and administrative staff keen on re-signing him.
Rumours linking the player to the club died down after Villas-Boas insisted that he has no intention of selling Van Der Vaart. Now, the stories have found new life, with Hamburg revealing that they will not give up on the Dutch ace. The German club stated
that they may return with one final bid for their former player before the transfer window shuts down.
Villas-Boas is still keen on holding on to Van Der Vaart, and said:
"I'm not sure if Hamburg are interested but he's a player who at the moment is not for sale. Anything can happen but he's a player we are counting on."
"Rafa was very unlucky because when he came from his vacation after the Euros he got injured in the game against LA Galaxy so he missed most of our pre-season in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/America-c38390 and Sigurdsson was with us all pre-season.”
Van Der Vaart was left on the bench in last week’s game against Newcastle as Sigurdsson started in the central attacking role.
"He couldn't therefore play against Watford and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 so he came back late for selection and it was pretty straightforward to select Sigurdsson for the Newcastle game,” Villas-Boas added.
"Now Rafa has trained with us all week and he's looking strong and in contention."
Spurs take on West Brom at home this weekend, and will be looking to seal all three points in their first home game of the season.
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