Villas-Boas rules out Van der Vaart sale

Andre Villas-Boas says he has no intention of selling Rafael van der Vaart.

Van der Vaart has been an undoubted success since he signed from Real Madrid two years ago, but the Dutchman had to settle for a place on the bench last week at Newcastle, with Villas-Boas selecting Gylfi Sigurdsson for his first game in charge.

The Dutchman has been strongly linked with a return to former club Hamburg. Villas-Boas refused to guarantee that Van der Vaart would be at Spurs when the transfer window closes, but when asked whether it was his intention to sell him, the Portuguese said: "No, on the contrary. He's a player of great importance for us, a player I count on."

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