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Rafael van der Vaart signs for Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland

Former Real Madrid and Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has signed for Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland on a two-year contract the club have confirmed.

Van der Vaart, 33, had been without a club since leaving Real Betis at the end of last season and spent the summer working with a personal trainer in Amsterdam.

The former Netherlands international had been in the crowd alongside his agent to watch Midtjylland qualifying for the Europa League.

Of the move Van der Vaart said: "I visited the stadium for a game and I was quite impressed with the coach and I knew I wanted to play here, so I'm happy to be here.

"It's a young club with a lot of young players and a great academy. I'm a little bit older so I hope I can help them with my experience. I think it's a perfect match."

He had been linked with a move to Championship side Reading, where his former international teammate Jaap Stam is manager.

But Stam played down the move, saying: "I can tell you that he phoned us about wanting to play for us... We're thinking about him of course. He is in our minds, he's a quality player but he's got a history of injuries so we have think about that as well."