Bundesliga - Time for Vaart to move on - father
Eurosport - Thu, 07 Feb 15:30:00 2008
The time is right for Rafael van der Vaart to leave Hamburg, according to the midfielder's father.
The Holland international's current contract with the Bundesliga side runs until 2010 and the offer of an extension to the deal has been rejected.
The Holland international has already been linked with a wealth of Europe's biggest clubs, including Real Madrid, Valencia, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
And the player's father Ramon believes a summer move is now inevitable simply because his son has out-grown Hamburg.
Ramon Van der Vaart told Bild: "There is a proverb in the Netherlands: 'There is a time to come and then to go'. We think it will be the right moment to leave the club and to face new challenges. It is the time to go to the next step. He is ready.
"It is not a decision to leave Hamburg, more a decision to join another club. To put it differently, Rafael's next club won't be a better club but just a bigger one."
While Van der Vaart expressed a recent desire to join Serie A giants Juventus - he said that linking up with Alessandro Del Piero in Turin would be a dream come true - Ramon would prefer to see a deal done with a team in Spain.
"We all know that Rafael's dream is a move to a Spanish club like Madrid or Barcelona. But if there are no offers from there, Juve is a similarly big club with an unbelievable history. And my son would get to play in the country of the world champions [Italy] and the winners of the Champions League [Milan]."
Despite Van der Vaart wanting out of Hamburg, his father insists there are no grudges held against the club he has been with since 2005, claiming that moving there from Ajax has done him the world of good.
He said: "Moving to Hamburg was the best decision Rafael has made in his life as a professional footballer. I do not know of a better club than Hamburg for him to have played."
And with Van der Vaart set to star for Holland at Euro 2008, Ramon believes his son would benefit from concluding a deal before the big kick-off at the tournament in Austria and Switzerland.
He said: "It would be perfect if everything could be settled by the time the Euro 2008 tournament gets underway in June. That way he could play for Holland with a clear head."
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Man , I love Milan so much this moment, but I'm bit disappointed that he didn't mentioned Alberto Tomba and what a great champion he was, but that doesn't decrease my love for them.
