[Locke.]

Real Madrid star Rafael Van Der Vaart last night said:- “I’ll join a big Premier League club if I’m given a starting spot.”

Dutchman Van Der Vaart, 27, pinpointed Chelsea and Liverpool as his preferred choices if he came to England. Midfield maestro Van der Vaart, who cost Real £13 million from Hamburg in 2008, isn’t sure of a Bernabeu first-team place under new coach Jose Mourinho.

He said:- “I have heard of the interest from Liverpool and Chelsea – and that is very flattering. If either of them were willing to offer me first-team football, I will be honest that it would be very hard for me to not listen to what they had to say. I think I have the relationship with Madrid where they understand my position and would let me hold talks. ”

‘‘I expect the majority of transfers to be concluded in the next two weeks, and if Chelsea or Liverpool wanted to talk with me I would at the very least listen to what they have to say. They are both giants, and if they could offer first-team football it may prove impossible to turn down.”


‘‘Real Madrid is the most prestigious club in the world and I am happy here and also in Spain, but I am at the age where I have to be playing first-team football. I am getting to the point where I will be hitting my peak years and I need to spend those years at a club where I will be playing regularly. The boss knows how much he plans to use me, and if he is willing to listen to offers for me.”


And, Van Der Vaart, who has been capped 83 times for the Netherlands, added:- “I wouldn’t be willing to play for any clubs in Spain out of respect for Madrid, so in my eyes the only other place to go would be the Premier League. It’s the only league that competes with the standard of La Liga.”