Van der Vaart said recently that last winter he was close to a transfer to Juventus and that it was not because of himself that it fell through, but that the negotiating clubs couldn't get to an agreement, because HSV wanted too much money for him. And that now there's hardly any contact anymore with Juventus.
He still does prefer to play in Spain, but doesn't regret that a transfer to Valencia didn't happen either, because of their dramatic season and Koeman being there at the time, who he had not very good relations with at Ajax.