Rafael Van Der Vaart Signs For Tottenham, £9m Deal – Yes Yes Yes

Ollie Irish

1st, September 2010

28 Comments

By Ollie Irish

Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid for a fee around £9m after the Premier League gave them the green light to add the Dutch midfielder to their squad. That is an absolute bargain. (Just to remind you, Harry Redknapp is not a wheeler dealer)

Spurs had been sweating on clearance to bring the 27-year-old playmaker to White Hart Lane after technical difficulties hampered their efforts to submit the proper paperwork for the move before Tuesday’s transfer window ‘slammed shut’ (© Everyone).

But after investigating the club’s claims that there were difficulties involving computer servers used in the transaction between themselves and Real, the Premier League ratified the signing.

Van der Vaart is quoted as telling the Dutch media: “The interest from Tottenham came very quick and I did not have much time to think.

“But I want to play football again and if possible every week, with a beautiful club. I ‘m totally happy.

“I am excited about playing in England. Whether it suits my style remains to be seen, but I think a good footballer can adapt and I am very proud of this transfer.”

Woop woop! I don’t think Tottenham’s priority was to sign a midfielder (I would rather have seen Luis Fabiano come to the Lane), but am I hugely excited about the prospect of watching VdV in a Spurs shirt? Hell yes. And do I wonder why clubs like Man Utd didn’t also make a bid for VdV, if he was available for this price? Yes again. It says a lot for the teamwork of Daniel Levy and Redknapp that they managed to pull the deal off at the last minute. Harry is an absolute master at this type of brinksmanship; Man City might have paid £25m for a player of VdV’s calibre.

So, will VdV be a hit for Spurs? And where will Arry play him?

Posted in Tottenham Hotspur, Transfers & Rumours

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28 Comments

  1. ped says:

    quality, what a bargain!
    will play eventually ahead of modric
    better than him & scores better goals
    the type of player we’ve been crying out for since gazza
    will improve the team no end!!!
    COYS

  2. anon says:

    Let’s not give ‘Arry credit for this transfer. He has admitted himself that it was all down to Levy.

  3. Jay says:

    Please off the front man, when we have defoe and crouch up there defoe only is involved for 5-10 minutes a match we need someone more involved in that area of the pitch, rooney and tevez drop off very deep to get the ball and run with it thats what we need rdv to do.
    He is a seriously prolific goalscoring midfielder for ajax at hamburg he scored in 7 consecutive games to break that record, and at madrid when kaka was injured he smashed in goals to keep there title dream alive, im shocked thought he would go man utd.
    Gomes
    Corluka Dawson King Bale
    Lennon Hudd Sandro Modric
    RDV
    Defoe/Crouch

    Monster line up with Krancjar, Palacios, Gallas, Kaboul, Ekotto
    Pav, and Bentley fighting for places on the bench.
    If we could cut out stupid defeats against silly teams we could win it.
    Hate to say it but gallas wouldnt of allowed what happened against wigan we need some proven class and him and rdv have been there and done it.

  4. erik says:

    fair to say, then, that ‘Arry is a “wheeler-dealer”?

  5. hcbrasil says:

    Phenomenal signing for Spurs, and for an absolute bargain. Who wants to ask Harry about his wheeling and dealing? ;)

    I wouldn’t be surprised is VdV is as big of a hit as Sneijder at Inter post-Real.

  6. j.bro says:

    other clubs haven’t signed vdv because he’s just a showpony. Spurs needed a striker and/or a central midfielder – we’ve got neither with this signing!

  7. COYS says:

    Gomes

    Corluka Gallas King Bale

    Huddlestone

    Lennon Modric

    Van der Vaart

    Crouch Defoe

  8. Stratty says:

    I’m not sure, but I do continuously picture what is probably the league’s best midfield (not just carried away in the moment,I have said this before ) setting up endless missed chances for our dopey forward line.

    http://www.comeonspurs.com/columns/10110301.php

  9. Mr. X says:

    Oh thank you dear (fill in the name of your preferred god here)! Arry said he needed another game changer like Modric, and with those two in the midfield…. wooooooo….. Game on!

  10. Acton_Yid says:

    Midfield of: Bale, Modric, VdV, Huddlestone and Lennon….LOL ! Eat that, Sky Three ©

  11. Real Madrid says:

    Good bargain for Totthenham, but he was slow upfront for Real Madrid with the speed of Ronaldo / Higuan / De Maria. And now with the signing of Ozil / Canales (brilliant young playmaker) and when Kaka is fit (if he gets fit) there was no place for VDV anymore.

    Goodluck to VDV.

  12. KingGlenn says:

    Has to be a 4-2-3-1 with VDV on board:
    Gomes
    Kaboul Dawson King/Gallas Bale
    Huddlestone Sandro/Willie P
    Lennon Van Der Vaart Modric
    Defoe or Crouch

    Corluka is criminally slow, so it has to be Kaboul, if not Kyle Naughton.
    My only issue is Defoe’s (lack of) match intelligence.
    He could really thrive in a team like this, but has to sort out his tedious tendency for wondering offside.
    He has the pace, he just needs to speand a few days watching videos of how Henry/Rooney/Berbatov/Torres bend their runs to beat the trap.
    Here’s hoping. COYS.

  13. C says:

    With that price, even if he performs below his “standard”, it’ll be an success.

  14. Real Madrid says:

    something else..Real Madrid signed Ozil (22 years) for £12.5M and Canales (19 years) for 5M euros. Great Bargains.

    For once they did the correct acceptable transfers!

  15. Karate Yid says:

    Brilliant

  16. Karate Yid says:

    Gomes
    Corluka
    Dawson
    King/Bassong
    Bale
    Modric
    Huddlestone
    Palacios
    Lennon
    Van der vaart
    Defoe/Pav

    Suck on that you gooner scumbags

  17. Spencer says:

    I also think we didn’t need VDV he is a good player but plays in the same positions as Modric and Kranjcar. I am really disapointed we didn’t get a top forward and we also needed a midfielder like diarra.

  18. Lloyd says:

    So does that mean Sours won’t won’t be able to play 4-4-2 then? Because I don’t see VdV fitting into that system. And what about Modric, where does he fit into the team, on the left in a 4-5-1, then what does Bale do? I guess you can say it’s a “good” problem for ‘Arry to have, but I’d happily argue that at this stage Spurs would have been better off with another centre half or a striker of Fabiano’s quality. Hope it works out for you lot anyway….

  19. Whosyadaddy says:

    Really good signing for the spuds and a welcome addition to the Prem.

  20. logan says:

    Gomes
    Corluka Gallas King BAE
    Huddlestone/Modric
    Lennon Bale/Modric
    Van Der Vaart
    Crouch
    Defoe

  21. Toppsy7 says:

    It’s not VdV… it’s vdV!!!!!

    But besides that, well played Levy

  22. ped says:

    i think vdv will replace modric as they won’t play together, especially with the hud as there’s probably not enough bite in the midfield (we need a spoiler, grafter & ball winner in there i.e. palacios or a fit o’hara ).
    harry’ll maybe rotate the three or leave ’em to fight it out – but as already stated, a nice problem for harry.
    anyway that’s what i think, but i’m no expert.

  23. sammy says:

    gomes
    palacios king dawson ekkoto
    lennon Hudd Modric Bale
    Van der Vaart
    Defoe/Crouch

  24. Shahasn says:

    modric has nothing to worry about.. He is a master class and is the base of our team. Vdv can fit into a 4-5-1 formation which we will play in the CL away from home.. Plus there will always be injuries

  25. deckard says:

    harry redknapp got overly excited with his relatively low transfer price. as already said, in mordic and kranjar you already have excellent players who can operate superbly as attacking mid or on the wings if need be. vdv being left footed would then also be vying with gareth bale. i really hoped he would’ve gone to bayern where he may’ve offered some the creativity robben can’t provide right now. who knows, maybe vdv had other offers from less fashionable clubs but went to spurs mainly because they’re playing cl.

  26. Gamblino says:

    That 4-2-3-1 looks badass.

  27. tom says:

    ——————GOMES——————–
    –CORLUKA—-DAWSON—-GALLAS——-BAE—-
    —————HUDDLESTONE—————–
    -LENNON——-MODRIC——-VDV——–BALE-
    —————–CROUCH——————–

    That literally has to be the team doesn’t it? I seriously don’t see how/why they wouldn’t play that way. You have the bench to cover all these positions adequately and this team line up has a great balance of defence through having a condensed midfield and of attack through the width of the wingers, the creativity of the more attacking midfielders and the headed goals/knock downs Crouch’s height will inevitably create.

    I thought Tottenham were looking quite predictable and therefore becoming more and more playable (a la Aston Villa) but a change to their shape like the above could reignite the potential brilliance of this very gifted squad.

    Anyway, up the Fulham!!!

  28. Cassious says:

    oh..such a shame that a world class player has gone to a mediocre club! should have gone to liverpool

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