Not a striker so he wouldn't be a replacement. A short term deal would be great, but we now need an out and out striker, not an AM.
FourFourTweet ‏@FourFourTweet Hamburg chairman Dietmar Beiersdorfer has ruled out the sale of Rafael van der Vaart this summer. #Bundesliga
Too old? He's only 31, not quite put out to pasture. He's not a striker, so not a direct replacement, but would be a fantastic playmaker ahead of Huddlestone and Livermore to feed the likes of Ince and Jelavic. His wages would be high and last year I would've said no chance but at this point not many signings would shock me. The main issue would be that in our 352/3412 system he'd occupy the same role as Snodgrass, playing behind the forwards. However, maybe Bruce would want the two of them as the options for that role and focus Jelavic, Sagbo, Ince and Aluko on rotation the two forward roles rather than signing another striker and dropping Aluko/Ince deeper. If Bruce could bring Van der Vaart without breaking the bank on silly fees/wages in I'd certainly be in favour of that, a 2 year deal or so. I'd say it's unlikely, but fantastic if he pulled it off.
Many clubs "rule out" selling a player and then sell them a week later. Often means another million or so needs to be added to the offer.
I think we have a great chance of signing Van der Vaart because:- A) he could get back to Holland on the ferry if he needed to from Hull. B) that his wife could be treated at Castle Hill if ever ill. Thank you FLG.
His wife had an affair with the milkman and he found out and he said some not nice things to her and she got upset and she left and he was sad and then he got involved with another player's ex-wife and he was happy and he started talking to his wife again and now they're friends and now everyone is happy. The end. Short version: His wife wouldn't be coming.