Van der Vaart joins Hamburger SV for five seasons
27 May: Rafaël van der Vaart had already agreed
the terms of his contract with Hamburger Sport
Verein (known simply as HSV) five days ago. Today
Ajax and the German Bundesliga club finalized the deal:
Van der Vaart penned a deal for five seasons. The transfer fee
remained undisclosed as usual. Sky Sports claims it is 6.5
million euros; German newspaper Hamburger Abentblatt
reports that Ajax receive 5.1 million euros plus a percentage
of the transfer fee HSV will receive for Van der Vaart
when he moves on. "I am very happy the transfer has now been
completed," the player told HSV's official website.
Dietmar Beiersdorfer, director of sport at HSV, is quoted on
the official site saying: "We are pleased to have signed a
player of international class, Van der Vaart." Head-coach
Thomas Doll promised the youngster a spot as a 'number ten'
behind the club's two strikers.
Swan song: Raffy's
final games as an Ajacied...
... against Vitesse...
and FC Groningen. [Photos:
Ajax.nl]
HSV may be a club with a great history, a fantastic stadium
and a large fanbase, but anyone who would have predicted two
years ago that Van der Vaart would choose for a Bundesliga
side that has not exactly been a regular in UEFA competition in
recent years, would not have been believed. The new 'Boy
Wonder' from the Ajax youth system would surely move to Spain,
homeland of his mother's family. Van der Vaart himself always
claimed that he had no specific preference for either Real
Madrid or FC Barcelona, but he surely seemed headed for one of
the two Spanish powerhouses.
But things have changed in the past two seasons, in which
Van der Vaart seemed to have lost his magic. Former head-coach
Ronald Koeman made him the team captain at the start of the
2003-2004 season, but Van der Vaart never became the true
leader of Ajax. His relationship with Koeman deteriorated: Van
der Vaart criticized him for being too tough on young players
such as Wesley Sneijder and himself and not giving them enough
moral support.
Van der Vaart's relationship with his team-mate Zlatan
Ibrahimovic was also anything but perfect. The subdued rancour
between the two turned into a public feud after the 18 August
2004 friendly between Sweden and Holland, in which Van der
Vaart had to be replaced after a wild Ibrahimovic action.
Van der Vaart accused the Swede of injuring him on purpose. The
two talked about it and peace was 'officially' declared, but
less than two weeks later Ajax were remarkably easy-going when
Juventus wanted to purchase Ibrahimovic. The board had
apparently taken Van der Vaart's side; Ibrahimovic was sold
to the Italian giants.
It did not mark the return of the Rafaël van der Vaart
that Amsterdam once knew. The midfielder continued to struggle
against Koeman (who
stripped him of the captain's armband on 10 December
2004), himself and the outside world: press and public
criticized him for being 'overweight' and spending too much
time at glamourous parties with his fiancée, Dutch MTV
veejay Sylvie Meis. Van der Vaart denied that he had changed,
but recently admitted that one of the main reasons for him to
move abroad is the fact that - very much against his will -
he'd become too much of a celebrity in Holland and is
looking for a new environment, where he can be 'just' a
footballer and start with a clean sheet. Meanwhile, he had lost
his spot in the Ajax starting line-up, a spot he would win back
just before the end of what would be his last season as an
Ajacied.
The past two seasons were, all in all, not exactly what
Ajax, the fans and Van der Vaart himself expected it to be. He
was unable to live up to the expectations that were the direct
result of the meteoric career the youngster had between 2000
and 2003.
Rafaël van der Vaart (born Beverwijk, 11 February 1983)
started playing football for amateur club De Kennemers in his
home town of Heemskerk. He drew the attention of Ajax scouts at
a very young age and entered the Ajax youth system. He played
in all age categories until he made his first team début
at age 17 under coach Co Adriaanse on 19 April 2000 in the
Eredivisie away game against FC Den Bosch. It would remain his
only appearance of the season, but everyone knew the gifted
left-footer would soon make his big break.
Van der Vaart scored 39 goals in 68 Eredivisie
appearances in the three seasons that followed. He was
voted 'European Talent Of The
Year' in 2001 and made his début for Oranje
on 06 October 2001 against
Andorra, only 18 years and 234 days old, the fourth youngest
Oranje newcomer since World War Two. At that point he
had already signed an extended and improved contract at
Ajax, committing to Ajax until the summer of 2006 and
suddenly becoming one the biggest earners in the Ajax
squad.
During his glorious first years at Ajax, Van der Vaart's
only setbacks were a series of injuries that kept him
sidelined for quite a long time, such as the one he sustained
in February 2002 and turned into
a nightmare due to surgical mistakes. Van der Vaart
missed the start of Ajax's memorable Champions League campaign
of 2002-2003.
Rafaël van der Vaart played 117 Eredivisie games (52
goals), 28 European fixtures (6 goals) and 11 domestic cup
games (4 goals) for Ajax. In total: 156 official matches, 62
goals. For Oranje he had 28 appearances (4 goals) so
far. It makes him, in spite of a very difficuly last 18 months,
a great Ajacied, who luckily said goodbye to the Ajax fans (who
always kept supporting him) with fantastic goals in his
last two games against
Vitesse and (his very last appearance for Ajax)
against
FC Groningen on 22 May 2005.
Thank you very much, Raffy. Good luck in Germany and
we'll see you again! (MP)
Sources: VI.nl, NOS Teletekst, HSV.de
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