I’m grateful to Real Madrid: Tottenham’s Rafael van der Vaart
Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has said that he is extremely grateful to Real Madrid for helping him become the player that he is today.
The left-footed midfielder moved to Tottenham on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2010. He was bought by the London club for a sum of €9.5 million. He has become an instant hit at the Spurs since his arrival and has managed to knock in 13
goals in his 23 appearances. That is more than he scored in his two seasons at Real.
The 28-year-old had a difficult time in Madrid. He was constantly fighting for a place in the starting line-up, and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wesley-Sneijder-c36799 was mostly chosen ahead of him. Sneijder later moved on to achieve great success at Inter Milan. But even after his departure,
the Dutchman was unable to get a regular berth in the opening eleven. Van der Vaart had various chances to leave Madrid, but he chose to stay and tried to fight for his place. His efforts though did not bear fruit though. Last summer, when rumours were rife
that he would move, he once again denied the speculations and said he wanted to play under the new boss, Jose Mourinho. However, once Mourinho signed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904. Van der Vaart knew it was time for him to pack up. He
came in real cheap for Tottenham on the deadline day and in the end, many said it was the best piece of business done all summer by any club.
Van der Vaart looks back at his time in Madrid fondly. He said that despite not being able to play much first team football, he got to learn a lot from just being in a club like that.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the World Cup finalist said, “It was hard to leave Madrid. Madrid is a fantastic place, a club amongst the strongest in the world. There were so many players – me, Wesley [Sneijder], [Arjen] Robben – we hadn't got the
space we thought we had. Real Madrid gave me money, a chance to be famous, playing big matches. I will always be grateful to them.”
Van der Vaart, who played for Netherlands in the World Cup 2010 and made it to the final, only to be beaten by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011, said that the move to Tottenham had been a fresh start for him. He said he was enjoying his time in England. He added that there was much
more competitiveness and room to play for other teams whereas in Spain, only Barcelona and Real Madrid fought for honours.
He said that in England, every team was fighting hard for points and in cup competitions and Tottenham was a great team to be part of. Van der Vaart went on to say that there were some fantastic players in the team and if they continued to play together
for a few years, they would turn into a great team.
Rafael van der Vaart is looking to have a long stint at Tottenham, but said that before he retired from football, he would like to have a little spell back in Italy.
Tottenham is currently fourth on the English Premier League table, two points ahead of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 and have won the first leg of their Champions League final-16 fixture against AC Milan 1-0.
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