Hamburg chief Frank Arnesen is delighted with their deal for Tottenham attacker Rafael van der Vaart.

Arnesen admits he also tried for Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner before he joined Juventus on-loan.

"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."