Real Betis sign Rafael van der Vaart for next 3 seasons

Well, nobody saw this coming.

Bulking up for their return to La Liga, newly promoted Real Betis signed Rafael van der Vaart to a three-year contract on Monday, a deal that will keep the well travelled midfielder at the Estadio Benito Villamarin until he's 35 years old.

A great deal of speculation had surrounded Van der Vaart's future after Hamburger SV CEO Dietmar Beiersdorfer announced in March that Van der Vaart would not receive a contract extension at the end of the season, bringing an end to one of the most prolific careers ever witnessed at the Volksparkstadion.

Van der Vaart is a shell of the player he was five years ago, but Betis will obviously be hoping he can find a shade of the form that made him so devastating at Real Madrid.

Here's video of Van der Vaart putting pen to paper on his new contract: