Rafael van der Vaart has confirmed he will be leaving the club this summer which should alert all of the Premier League’s top clubs such is the Dutchman’s talent. Real Madrid are reportedly looking to recoup the amount they paid for the creative star which is a figure of roughly £13m which is not much in relation to some of the highly expensive moves so far this summer.

The player told De Telegraaf this week, “The coach told me I won’t get much chance to play, so it’s not an option to stay here.”

“Real want to get my transfer fee back. I completely understand that clubs want to wait.”

“Of course I am interested in HSV, but it’s not the only option for me.

“The most important thing is that I will play at a new club.”

The player’s stock has definitely fallen since his move to La Liga but the Dutchman would surely be the ideal man to replace the likes of Xabi Alonso at Liverpool or alternatively provide Manchester United with a goal threat and creativity that Cristiano Ronaldo so brilliantly provided albeit from a different position to van der Vaart. Both Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are nearing the end of their star-studded careers so Sir Alex will need to bring in more ball players into a physical all-action midfield consisting of the likes of Park Ji-Sung, Darren Fletcher and Anderson.

The multi-million pound arrivals of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Albiol and Karim Benzema has led to Real needing to recoup some of their incredible outlay by selling a number of fringe players. Van der Vaart is one of those.

Van der Vaart began his Real career with 4 goals in his first 4 games including a goal on his debut against Numancia and a hat-trick against Sporting Gijon. However, since then the Dutch playmaker failed to score and was increasingly relegated to substitute appearances. The €13 million summer signing played 32 league games for the Spanish champions but only started 15. Apart from starting the two final league games of the season, his previous last full 90 minutes came in a Copa Del Rey match v Real Union in November and his last full game in La Liga was way back in September, hence his frustration. After all, in 3 seasons for Hamburg he started 72 of his 74 league appearances and scored 29 goals.

Prior to leaving Hamburg his manager Martin Jol had this to say about his star player, “He is one of the best five play-makers in Europe and he dictates the rhythm of Hamburg.”

That’s high praise indeed but the 26-year-old had proven to be a huge hit both in his homeland with Ajax and in the Bundesliga with Hamburg.

The Dutchman Wants Out of MadridThe 2007/08 season was the Dutchman’s most prolific campaign in 3 seasons in Germany. He scored a total of 12 goals in 29 League appearances taking his overall League tally for Hamburg to an impressive 29 goals in 74 appearances. Not bad for a playmaking attacking midfielder. This is a similar scoring rate to the one he enjoyed with Ajax where Van der Vaart scored a total of 52 goals in 117 League appearances. This record includes the 2002/03 season when the Dutch international scored a staggering 18 goals in 21 League appearances. The diminutive playmaker has also got a decent scoring record at international level for Holland after netting 14 goals in 68 games.

The Dutch star certainly has all the attributes to be a major hit in the Premier League and at a mere £13m would surely be an absolute bargain for a number of clubs. Especially as he can play centrally, on either wing or as 2nd striker.

For £13m would you like your club to sign him? Let’s hear your views.

Ryan Giggs has revealed the secret which has stopped him going stale during his 19 years at the top - a good bust-up.

The evergreen Giggs has lifted the lid on Sir Alex Ferguson's training methods and claims there is nothing like a furious ruck to fire up the players.

The Manchester United star says blowing his top is the best way to combat fatigue and stop training become boring.

Giggs (right) laughs when critics attempt to portray training ground rows as a sign of discord in the dressing room and he argues they show how determined he and his Old Trafford team-mates are to win.

He has witnessed plenty during his time and says a barney is great for getting the adrenalin pumping before matchday.

"The best way to deal with fatigue is to get angry," said the Welshman. "The same goes for the rare occasions when training is a bit flat.

"You'll see someone start an argument and that will get the session going again.

"It's ridiculous when people go on about training ground bust-ups, because it's been like that every Friday for nearly 19 years I've played professional football.

"Training is so competitive the day before a game that there are always arguments."

Giggs does not hold back when all hell breaks loose at Carrington, and he admits he hates losing.

This win-at-all costs stance is one of the cornerstones of United's success story these past two decades and Giggs says this fierce competitiveness even spills over into the weights room.

"I'm a nightmare," he confessed. "I'm such a bad loser - cards, computer games, anything. There are a lot of us at the club who are just like me, which makes training very competitive.

"In the gym, you tend to get the centre-halves doing weights together or the midfielders working together and there will always be a competitive edge between them."

Giggs, 35, has seen how Ferguson's training sessions have become more intense over the years and he packs in a solid day's graft before he clocks off at 2pm.

Long gone are the days of the early 1990s when he would be in and out of The Cliff inside two hours. "Back then, training would start at 10.30am so I'd be there at twenty past, ready to go," he said.

"There would be a lot of football, no gym work at all. We'd finish at midday, have lunch then I'd be home by half twelve.

"These days I get in about 8.30am and I won't leave much before 2pm. It's hard, but I enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it at my age, then that's the point when you should probably pack it in."

Giggs, who as the Peter Pan of the Premier League is the most decorated player in the history of the English game, is relishing the start of what will be his 20th campaign.

He is the only player to score in every season of the Premier League and he puts his longevity down to eating fresh fish.

"Keeping my weight under control has never been a problem," he said. "I'm 75kg on the nose and I've been virtually the same for the past 15 years. Same with my waist size - 32ins.

"But I have had to become more aware of my body in the last five or six years and I've started taking more care of myself consciously.

"After I turned 30, I decided to change my lifestyle a lot, stop drinking and watch the food I ate. There wasn't a specific moment, though. I just wanted to keep playing to the highest standard for as long as I could. I knew that would require certain sacrifices.

"During my twenties my favourite meal was steak and chips or chicken and chips. I didn't even like fish when I was younger, but now if I go out, I almost always have it."

Thanks to his love of fish and training ground bust-ups, Giggs can look forward to scaling the heights again and netting yet more silverware.

Football's European governing body says it is concerned about the financial state of English Premier League clubs.

Uefa general secretary David Taylor warned that some clubs are in danger if they keep living beyond their means.

"There are stories concerning some English clubs that are of significant concern," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"There are a number of English clubs where the value of the club itself has fallen significantly and they are effectively on the market."

In 5 Live's special report on debt in English football, Taylor added: "We hope that the clubs themselves will not suffer in any significant way from this but who knows?

"We've seen what has happened in recent years with a number of very high-profile clubs, Leeds United for example. They fell into serious financial difficulties by over-extending themselves."

Leeds reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001 but after failing to qualify for the competition the following season the loss of television revenue took its toll on the club.

Their top players were sold to try to offset the loss of income,but after narrowly avoiding relegation in 2003 they eventually slipped out of the Premier League a year later.

The club's Elland Road ground was sold, as was the training ground, and despite reaching the Championship play-off final in 2006 the club went into administration the following season as they were relegated to the third tier of English football.

Asked whether a Premier League club could 'do a Leeds' again in the near future, Taylor replied: "In this current economic environment, I would never say never to anything like that."

He added: "Clearly we do not see that as imminent but the concern is that we have to establish a stronger financial basis on which clubs can compete."

Liverpool's American owners recently renegotiated the club's debt with the Royal Bank of Scotland, believed to be £290m, and have extended it for another year.

They owe £350m to RBS and Wachovia and discussions between the two banks and the owners have been prolonged, with fears the banks may call in the loans, while Kop Holdings, the parent company of the Anfield club, lost £42.6m in the year to August 2008.

There were fears too when Malcolm Glazer completed a takeover of Manchester United in 2005.

The American tycoon borrowed £265m - secured against Manchester United's assets - and had a further £275m in other loans at the time of the takeover.

As well as debt-ridden clubs, Taylor also conceded there was "disquiet" in Uefa over the transfer dealings of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Manchester City this summer.

La Liga club Real paid a world record fee of £80m to sign Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United and also signed Brazilian playmaker Kaka from AC Milan for a fee of £56m.

Real have also signed full-back Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool, defender Raul Albiol from Valencia and forward Karim Benzema from Lyon - bringing their total spending to in excess of £200m.

City, meanwhile, backed by their oil-rich owners from Abu Dhabi, have signed former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez, midfielder Gareth Barry, striker Roque Santa Cruz, and former Arsenal pair Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure.

"I would say in this financial climate, it is surprising, a little bit destabilising of the market," Taylor said of the dealings of the two clubs.

"It is certainly raising the ante in terms of the player costs, in terms of the general market place, which is not a thing that gives us a great deal of comfort in these difficult times.

"There is certainly disquiet in the corridors of power here."