If he really doesn't want to stay, then I'd have no problem with getting rid of him, dropping van der Vaart into his position and either playing Kranjcar in the hole or bringing in someone else (Marin, Diego?), with one provision: He has to leave the Premier League. If one of the Milanese sides, Real Madrid or possibly Bayern Munich were to stump up the significant fee, then I'd be far less bothered. Selling him to another club in our division is a complete no-no, though.
Couldn't agree more PNP. That is the the type of clause that SHOULD be written into a contract. Why should we sell players to teams who will hurt us? The likes of ManUSA don't.