and now this...
Chelsea Still Monitor Van Der Vaart
With the transfer window set to re-open in less than five months, it seems that Chelsea have not forgotten about Rafael van der Vaart, who impressed their scout in Germany and Austria with his performance in Leverkusen, last Saturday.
The Dutch master, who celebrates his 25th birthday today, earned Hamburg the lead at the “BayArena”, before Bayer managed to save a 1-1 draw to leave the two sides joint-fourth in the Bundesliga, six points off the pace.
However, Huub Stevens’ side are still competing in the UEFA Cup and have also reached the quarter-finals of the Pokal, largely thanks to their captain’s contribution. The former Ajax star has scored 17 times in 27 outings this season, not to mention the number of goals he’s set up for his teammates.
Bonhof tight-lipped
And Chelsea, who have been linked with the inspirational playmaker for months, alongside the likes of Juventus Turin, Internazionale and Valencia to mention a few, allegedly sent Rainer Bonhof to watch Van der Vaart in action once more, even though he declined to admit it.
“I should not betray who I looked at,” the German legend told Bild tabloid. “But if one watched the game one should know who caught the eye.”
HSV could have won the clash, creating no fewer than 20 goal-scoring opportunities with Van der Vaart involved in 13 of them! However, the international midfielder, who recently turned down an offer to extend his contract until mid-2012, refused to comment on Bonhof’s presence.
“The interest of other clubs is secondary for the momentoweverHowe . I’d like to finally win something with Hamburg and land a title at the end of the season.” he was quoted as saying by Bild.
Goal.com