Barcelona Focus On Van Der Vaart

Panos Bletsos
Goal.com
Saturday, May 3 2008

The story made headlines just over two weeks ago, but today El Mundo Deportivo reports that Barcelona’s protracted interest in signing Rafael van der Vaart could materialize this summer.

The Barcelona-based sports newspaper had revealed Barça were keen on snatching the Hamburg captain back in December last year and today stresses that the Spanish giants have been following his progress for three years, since he was still playing for Ajax.

And the 25-year-old Dutch star caught their attention again on February 6, when he was instrumental in the Oranje’s 3-0 friendly victory over Croatia, even though the Barcelona scouts had made the trip to Split to watch the now Tottenham-bound Luka Modric in action.

Top priority
“Spain is my absolute priority, because my mother Lolita is Spanish,” Van der Vaart said in an interview with German weekly magazine Focus last January. “But it has to be for a really top club, which also regularly participates in the European Champions League. Otherwise I can always stay at HSV.”

Goal.com reported on April 18 that Frank Rijkaard and Aitor Beguiristáin had held preliminary talks with one of Van der Vaart’s representatives, Bayram Tutumlu. And although the Dutch coach could well leave Barcelona at the end of the season, El Mundo Deportivo suggests today that the club could have the upper hand, as the well-known Turkish agent maintains a good relationship with Barça’s technical secretary.

In Germany Van der Vaart, whom Barcelona intend as Ronaldinho’s successor, has arguably transformed from a promising starlet to one of the best creative midfielders in the world. His contract, which he recently refused to extend, does not expire before June 30, 2010, but it is estimated that HSV could sell him before the summer of 2009, when he could reportedly leave them for no more than… 1.5 million euros, according to a clause in their deal.

Twenty million price-tag
Barcelona had made a move to get Van der Vaart in 2006, but Hamburg then declared he was “not for sale”. Last year they demanded 22 million from the likes of Milan, Juventus Turin and Valencia to let him go, when the Spanish club were reportedly offering 17 million. But El Mundo Deportivo estimates that HSV will now ask for 20 million, a price which could be cut down depending on the course of negotiations.