According to former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart was due to leave Real Madrid for Bayern Munich on the Monday in an £18 million deal. If one wasnt already aware of the former Ajax captains talents, this will give some indication as to his value in European football four years ago. How Spurs managed to sign him the very next day for a knock-down price of £8 million was nothing short of a White Hart Lane miracle. He may have been shafted at the Santiago Bernabeu, tossed into the shadows, but for a playmaker of Van der Vaarts ilk, he could surely have had his pick.
''They let me know around 4pm that he was available for £8 million and, for that money, he is a top player who will definitely improve us. The fee has come crashing down because the deadline is close. - Harry Redknapp, September 2010.
Van der Vaart would go on to score 24 league goals in 63 appearances for the White Hart Lane side, becoming a firm fans favourite. He may have only stayed at the club for two seasons, but he was most definitely an example of one of Redknapps famed transfer coups, and a surprising one at that.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
