Rafael van der Vaart has ruled out a return to Hamburg this winter and has vowed to instead make the grade with Real Madrid.

There has been much speculation about the Dutchman returning to Hamburg following the arrivals of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema at the Spanish club in the summer.

However, he told the Bild newspaper today that he has no intention of throwing in the towel and returning to Germany, but not because he no longer cares about Hamburg.

"I am staying with Real and won't be moving," he said. "I am starting to get my chances and I believe that I will still have a great time in Madrid.

"I still have HSV very deep in my heart, but this is a decision pro-Madrid and not contra-Hamburg."

Van der Vaart was practically excluded from the Real squad at the start of the season and was not even considered for pre-season matches, but the 26-year-old scored the only goal in the recent 1-0 win over Alcorcon in the cup.

With Ronaldo currently out injured, the Dutchman, who played 76 minutes for his national team against Italy at the weekend, now believes he will be given more of a chance to prove his own capabilities.