Van Der Vaart: I nearly came back to Spurs

Rafael van der Vaart, he was absolutely sublime when he was with us for a couple of years until Andre Villas-Boas pissed him off and he packed his backs to return to Germany.

What he lacked in pace, he made up for in everything else.  I’ll always remember his celebration against the scum.  Anyhow, Rafa has been speaking to the media about how he loved his time at Tottenham and how he nearly ended up coming back to us this summer.

The 32-year-old joined Spanish outfit Real Betis earlier this summer and did consider coming back to N17 for another stint in a Spurs shirt.

What a team we had at that time, Ledley King, Rafa van der Vaart, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale all world class players.

“Because I didn’t have a contract [this summer] I almost tried to come back [to Spurs], then Betis came and I decided to come to Betis, but Tottenham was always special,” he said in an interview with Mirror Football.

“But if [Spurs] had wanted me, I would have gone [back]. But Betis came and the decision was quite quick: Betis.”

When asked why did he leave Spurs, the Dutchman said: “It was a little to do with everything,” he continues in the 40 degree heat gripping the south of Spain.

“It was private things, but also when what’s his name [Andre Villas-Boas] came he said to me ‘you’re not my number one’ and I had played two years, like, unbelievable, so for me it was really strange that he said that to me. So then I said, well, it’s better to leave and that is what happened.

“It was a stupid decision, the most stupid in my career to leave Tottenham. I absolutely regret it because it was the best two years in my football life.

“When you see that team, when you have [Gareth] Bale, [Luka] Modric, me, [Aaron] Lennon… it was an unbelievable team. I think every game we played we were the better side. We had a lot of possession and a lot of fun with each other.

“And Harry [Redknapp] — he was like your dad. I would give everything for that man; I was really sad when he left. I think the England job would have been the best job for him and also for England.”

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