Bundesliga club Hamburg have ruled out a move to bring Rafael van der Vaart back to Germany this summer, saying they "cannot finance a move."
The Tottenham playmaker has been linked with a return to the Imtech Arena in the last week.
However, Hamburg chairman Carl Edgar Jarchow has moved quickly to deny the reports, insisting the club are unable to raise sufficient cash to do any deal.
Jarchow said: "We cannot finance a move for Rafael van der Vaart."
But new Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas has made it clear that he wants van der Vaart to remain at White Hart Lane.
"With Van der Vaart - at the moment, I am absolutely counting on him," Villas-Boas said.
Van der Vaart, who left Hamburg in 2008 and joined Real Madrid before moving to Spurs in 2010, has two years remaining on his current contract.
