a serious injury that left him out of action for several months. Van der Vaart made his return to action on 20 January 2013 against 1. FC Nürnberg in a 1–1 draw. On 9 April, he was named the club's captain, succeeding Heiko Westermann. Not having scored for almost two months, Van der Vaart scored a brace on 20 April 2013 against Fortuna Düsseldorf in a 2–1 home win. Hamburg later decided not to give van der Vaart a contract extension. Real Betis Van der Vaart joined newly promoted Spanish club Real Betis on a free transfer in June 2015. He made his debut for the club on 24 September in a 2–1 La Liga defeat to Deportivo de La Coruña. His performance turned out to be a fiasco. He finally left the club on 30 June 2016, accumulating just 296 minutes of playing time in the 2015–2016 season. FC Midtjylland On 31 July 2016, Van der Vaart was spotted in a skybox at MCH Arena just outside Herning alongside agents Alan Hvedehave and Mikkel Beckmann, both before and during the league game between Danish Superliga clubs FC Midtjylland and Silkeborg IF. Following the match, in a live interview with Danish Eurosport 2, Midtjylland sporting director Claus Steinlein denied any ongoing negotiations, stating that Midtjylland would not be able to live up to Van der Vaart's economic demands. Just four days later, however, ahead of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League third round qualifying match against Videoton, Steinlein confirmed that the club was in fact trying to work out a deal with him. On 10 August, Van der Vaart joined Midtjylland on a two-year deal. Eighteen days later, he made his Superliga debut, as a substitute for Paul Onuachu in a 0–0 draw away to local rivals Viborg FF. Less than a month later, in his fourth appearance for his new side, he scored his first goal in a 5–2 win at home against promoted team Horsens. After coming in as a substitute in a match against Lyngby BK on 28 May 2017 he was selected for only one of the first team's matches until 9 February 2018 where he was on the bench in a 2–0 win against AC Horsens. On 18 February 2018 Van der Vaart made his first appearance for the first team in the 2017–18 season coming in as a substitute in the 90th minute. He told