Another fans' favourite, Dutch international maestro Rafael van der Vaart was signed by Spurs from Real Madrid for a bargain transfer fee of £8.5 million on transfer deadline day in August of 2010. Van der Vaart spent two years at Spurs, scoring an impressive 24 goals in 57 Premier League starts, and he was named Goal.com World Player of the Week and Premier League Player of the Month within a few weeks of joining the club - immediately endearing himself to the fans. He played a key part in their impressive Champions League campaign - in which the club reached the quarter finals at the first attempt, knocking AC Milan out along the way - and he scored an additional three goals in eight European appearances for the club overall. He returned to one of his former clubs - Hamburger SV - at the age of 29, in August of 2012. He had bizarrely lost his place in the Spurs team and his departure was something of a surprise. They have failed to find a player to link up the midfield and attack anywhere near as effectively as he did since.
