Former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has spoken about Daniel Levy’s decision to snub his suggestion to sign Hakim Ziyech from Ajax.
Van der Vaart revealed back in October that he sent the Spurs chief a text message urging him to land the player who caused the North Londoners all sorts of problems in the Champions League semi-final last season (Voetbal Primeur).
Chelsea officially confirmed the signing of Ziyech earlier this month, subject to personal terms.
The silky left-footer will join Frank Lampard’s side in the summer after finishing the season with the Dutch giants.
The news was met with disappointment by some Spurs fans after they felt the Lilywhites had missed a trick by not going in for the Moroccan star.
Van der Vaart also claimed that Tottenham could have done with signing the Moroccan international but insisted that he might suit Chelsea better given their style of play.
Speaking to Championat in Russia (as translated and relayed by Sport Witness), the Dutchman said: “Yes, how ridiculous! I told him earlier. I really like this footballer. He can do everything – both score and assist.
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“Watching him is a pleasure. But overall, Chelsea are playing differently, a bit more Dutch in a sense, so Ziyech will suit his future team.”
The 37-year-old, who was a fan favourite at White Hart Lane during his playing days, also revealed that he is still on good terms with the Spurs chairman after falling out with him previously.
Speaking about Levy, Van der Vaart added: “He just defends his club. I always had a good relationship with him, although it happened that we fought. Now, if we meet, we hug.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While Ziyech would have been a quality signing for Spurs, I have been left impressed with what I’ve seen of Bergwijn and believe the club might have got a better deal than Chelsea in signing the Dutch international. Bergwijn has a very similar goal and assists record to Ziyech in the Eredivisie despite playing for a worse team and he cost much less than the Moroccan despite being four years younger.
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