(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-14 02:14

BERLIN - Valencia have offered Hamburg SV 14 million euros ($19.17 million) for their captain Rafael van der Vaart and the Dutch player says he wants to join the Spanish club.

"I absolutely want to leave, Valencia is my dream," midfielder Van der Vaart said in an interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper released on Monday ahead of its appearance in Tuesday's edition.

"If I had to stay in Hamburg it would be painful."

Van der Vaart is contracted to Hamburg SV until 2010 and has said his contract has no escape clause that would allow him to change clubs without a transfer fee.

A spokesman for Hamburg SV said that as of Monday morning the club had not received an official offer from Valencia.