Valencia are unlikely to try again for the Dutchman this summer, but will return to the negotiating table in January when the market reopens.

For his part, Van der Vaart told AS after training yesterday: "I want to go to Valencia and I will continue wanting to. I know that the fans of Hamburg are upset, but I cannot do anything about it because what I want is to go to Valencia.

"It seems that all the directors (of Hamburg) have amnesia, because they promised me that they would study offers from Spain and, in addition, I specified that Valencia was one of the clubs to which I wanted to go."