Madrid turn to Van der Vaart
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Real Madrid may well have finally turned their interest away from Cristiano Ronaldo after it was revealed they have had an offer for Rafael van der Vaart rejected.
Van der Vaart was always said to be the contingency plan for Madrid this summer, if their pursuit of Ronaldo collapsed.
The Spanish champions have made it clear they want to land one creative talent, but they have been frustrated by United’s stubbornness regarding Ronaldo.
Now it appears that they may have finally drawn a line under the Portuguese pursuit this summer, elevating van der Vaart to ‘number one target’ status.
However, they appear to have been met with some resistance from Hamburg too, who have rejected Madrid’s first offer outright.
“The offer was absolutely out of the question,” Hamburg’s sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer told SID.
Van der Vaart can leave for just £1.2 million when he enters the final year of his contract, which expires in 2010.
Madrid’s offer reportedly played on Hamburg’s desperation to avoid such a scenario, but the German giants are determined to seek a better price.