6. Rafael van der Vaart - Tottenham to Hamburg
Dutch maestro Van der Vaart returns to his old club after agreeing a three-year deal at the AOL Arena. The switch was delayed to the final day after the clubs kept stalling their negotiations over the fee involved. It was reported by
Sky Sports that: "The agreement to take the Holland international back to Germany is believed to have been partly financed by a local investor." Tottenham signed Belgian international Mousa Dembele on Wednesday, opening up a possible move for their want-away Dutchman. Van der Vaart left Spurs' training ground early on the morning of 31 August to fly to Hamburg for a medical. He rejoined his old side, where he spent 2005-2008, despite his old boss Andre Villas-Boas ruling out that outcome a week before. His new manager is delighted to have brought the 29-year-old back to the Bundesliga: "I'm enthusiastic that Rafael van der Vaart is playing for HSV again," Thorsten Fink told
Reuters. "He will be an important reinforcement for our team." Hamburg have made a poor start to the season and were eliminated from the German Cup by third tier side Karlsruher recently. Van der Vaart isn't having the best start to the 2012/13 campaign either; he was dropped by his national side.