Tottenham Transfer News: Hamburg Could Make £9.5M Bid for Rafael Van Der Vaart

It seems as though Rafael van der Vaart's problems with Tottenham didn't leave with former manager Harry Redknapp.

If new manager Andre Villas-Boas' tactics during the club's most recent match are indicative of how he wants the team to take shape the rest of the season, Rafael van der Vaart could be seeing any less time on the pitch this year as compared to last year.

It's no secret that the Dutch ace wants more playing time—Tottenham or elsewhere.

It's also no secret that German club Hamburg haven't given up hopes of courting van der Vaart back to the Bundesliga.

According to ESPN, Hamburg manager Thorsten Fink wasn't keeping anything in the dark concerning his desire to see van der Vaart back. Hamburg's director of sport Frank Arnesen has publicly said the team's been in talks with Spurs about the Dutchman's availability:

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"I know Tottenham boss Daniel Levy loves to cash in high transfer fees in the final minutes of the transfer window. I don't want to let myself get carried away with speculation right now."

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Yahoo has reported that those "high transfer fees" are in the ballpark of £9.5 million, but ESPN reports they could be as high as £11.8 million (€15 million).

With newcomer Gylfi Sigurdsson seemingly fitting right in with his new club at attacking midfielder and Emmanuel Adebayor returning to his post at centre-forward, an abundance of talent in the middle of Spurs' attack has sprung up overnight, making Rafael van der Vaart a little more expendable.

If Levy can get at least the £9.5 million that Yahoo is saying he's worth, I see no reason why he should stay at White Hart Lane. A super-sub who comes in the last half-hour of matches is not worth that many pounds.

Besides, that much cash could help Tottenham make that "Edin Dzeko-to-Spurs" rumor finally come true.