Arnesen stands by Van der Vaart swoop

Hamburg sporting director Frank Arnesen has backed the decision to bring in Rafael van der Vaart on loan despite the financial risk involved.

After being told there would be no money for transfers without player departures, former Chelsea director Arnesen proceeded to bring in Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart and Martin Jiracek in a bid to alter the club’s fortunes.

The Bundesliga side have lost their opening two matches of the campaign but Arnesen insists it was the right call to make, describing the decision as “a calculated risk”.

“A month ago we had no money to invest. We had a meeting with the board. That’s where we were told: ‘Without selling a player we cannot do any transfer for a new player’,” he told Bild.

“I said three weeks ago that it is better to take a calculated risk. The question was whether we could do that. We could not have bought Van der Vaart without help from outside.”

And the 56-year-old was delighted to persuade Van der Vaart to make the move from Tottenham back to Hamburg on the final day of the transfer window, also claiming he talked to Nicklas Bendtner about a possible switch before the Arsenal striker’s loan move to Juventus.

He added: “I’m thankful that we could get a player like Rafa. That such a player comes to HSV. If you want players of a certain level, they must want to come to Hamburg.

“I have talked a lot to Nicklas Bendtner but he wanted to play European football.”