Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Van der Vaart Snubbed Reds

Rafael van der Vaart has revealed that he chose to join Tottenham ahead of Liverpool this summer.

The Holland international made a dramatic deadline day switch to White Hart Lane after seeing Harry Redknapp move late for his services.

It had appeared that the playmaker was all set to remain at Spanish giants Real Madrid, with no agreement in place to take him away from the Bernabeu.

However, Spurs snapped him up, with the move among the more intriguing to be completed during the summer transfer window.

Redknapp claimed at the time that he pounced for Van der Vaart after seeing Bayern Munich come up short in their efforts to do a deal.

However, the 27-year-old insists it was not the German giants who had made a late bid for his services.

Instead, he claims that Liverpool were the other side hoping to push through a deal, forcing him to choose between two Premier League heavyweights.

Van der Vaart told Sky Sports News: "Liverpool were interested. Bayern were not interested.

"In the end you have to have a good feeling, and with this manager I got a good feeling. I am happy and I am going to Spurs.

"I am going to give it my best and hopefully I will play a lot of games and be important for the team. I hope to get a lot of goals and have a lot of fun."

Van der Vaart is also looking forward to adding to the strong Dutch contingent already plying their trade in the English top flight.

Having been urged to move to the Premier League by his international colleagues for some time, the former Ajax and Hamburg ace is keen to see what all the fuss is about.

"They were always telling me, 'You have to come to England'," he added.

"Now it's happened and I am really looking forward to playing against Dirk (Kuyt), against Nigel (De Jong), against (John) Heitinga."

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