Former Tottenham Hotspur fan favourite Rafa van der Vaart has hilariously revealed how his transfer deadline day move to the club nearly fell through because of an ill-timed nap.
The 109-time Netherlands international joined Tottenham from Real Madrid on deadline day in the summer of 2010 for a fee of just £10million.
He went on to become a fan favourite at Spurs over the next two years, and was a key figure in their run to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2011.
In total, van der Vaart made 77 appearances for Tottenham, scoring 28 goals and providing 18 assists in that time.
He has now opened up on his deadline day move from Spanish giants Real, and hilariously revealed why the transfer nearly fell through.
In an interview with FourFourTwo, he said: “It was very last minute. Jose Mourinho had been honest about my chances, telling me they had bought Mesut Ozil to play in my position. He said I could stay, but that I wasn’t in his starting XI. At that point I was still keen to stay at Real Madrid for another season, so I headed to a training camp with the Dutch national team.
“But at around 4pm on deadline day, my lawyer called me to say that Tottenham were interested in signing me. I asked him if I could think about it. He replied that I had to decide within two hours. I started to evaluate everything, then took a little nap…
OPINION
It is a good job for Spurs that van der Vaart made the decision to join the club at the last minute. The Dutchman went on to become an integral part of a Spurs side that defied expectations in their run to the Champions League quarter-finals, and was so well-loved among fans. His sudden departure from the club to return to Hamburg was a bit of a surprise, but did not end up tarnishing his exalted reputation among fans.