Sjaak Swart, the retired Dutch footballer commonly known as ‘Mister Ajax’ in his homeland for holding the record for highest number of appearances for the legendary Amsterdam-based club, told De Telegraaf that the Frank De Boer-managed side missed an opportunity by not signing Rafael van der Vaart during the winter transfer window: “He could have made us champions. I watched half an hour of one of his matches for Betis and he was the best player on the pitch. A player with 109 international caps is always going to give you something”.

Betis cannot sell Van der Vaart to Ajax now, as the deadline date has passed for Eredivisie clubs, but the Andalusians are looking further afield to offload the former Real Madrid man as soon as possible. Earlier today Eduardo Macià, the Verdiblanco’s sporting director, accepted that “things haven’t worked out” with the Dutch striker and that the plan is to move him on.

In anticipation of Van der Vaart's departure, the Andalusians announced Brazilian forward Leandro Damiao as their newest recruit. Along with Copa Libertadores winner, Charly Musonda and Martín Montoya were also brought in before 1 Febuary to bolster the Benito Villamarín outfit.