Friday, 21st June, 2013
Hamburg captain Rafael van der Vaart is hoping his club can seal the signing of Roque Santa Cruz – revealed to have been offered a deal – terming it an important step towards their European ambitions.
Van der Vaart has seen Santa Cruz in action within close quarters when the pair were at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City respectively, and is well aware of the Paraguayan’s talents.
Santa Cruz, who spent last season on loan at Malaga from parent club Manchester City, is out of contract this summer and is seemingly open to a move towards Hamburg.
The club have submitted a "financially good" offer as revealed by sporting director Oliver Kreuzer, and Van Der Vaart remains positive on Hamburg clinching the deal.
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He told Bild: "That would be a real boost for us if Roque came to us. His skills would help us a lot, which will further increase the quality of the team.
"I think very highly of Santa Cruz. He has the right stuff to shoot us into Europe."
Hamburg missed out on Europa League qualification by just two points but it prompted almost a sea change in the club, with Frank Arnesen sacked as sporting director and Kreuzer put in charge.
Kreuzer has since told three players to find new clubs, sold Son Heung-Min to Bayer Leverkusen, and pursued Santa Cruz with dedication.
And on the latter question, a decision could be forthcoming sooner rather than later.
Kreuzer added: "For Roque there is a financially good offer from us. He has informed us that he finds the club interesting. We will have to wait until the end of next week for a decision."
Paraguay international Santa Cruz has been employed by Manchester City since the summer of 2009, and was subsequently sent on loan spells to Blackburn Rovers as well as La Liga sides Real Betis and Malaga.
His best spell came whilst at Bayern Munich where he was part of five Bundesliga-winning squads, between 1999 and 2007.
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