Written By Ross Mackiewicz
Rafael Van der Vaart is set for a last ditch transfer to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Real Madrid man has been deemed surplus to requirements at Los Blancos following Jose Mourinho’s arrival – despite a public appraisal from the ‘special one’ earlier in the week.
He looked all but set for a move back to Germany with Bayern Munich who had been negotiating an £18million fee with the Madrid hierarchy. However following a lapse in the deal Tottenham have pounced and look set to bag the 27 year old for a tidy sum of just £8million.
With an hour or so to spare before the 6pm transfer deadline on Tuesday, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy hastily began work on the deal and now awaits the Premier League’s confirmation that all necessary paperwork had been done beforehand. The club will now face an anxious wait for the deal to be ratified.
Harry Redknapp had told SKY Sports prior to the developments that he doubted that any such transfer activity would be occurring at White Hart Lane – only to later confirm the news about Van der Vaart .
“He was going to Bayern Munich for £18 million and suddenly he became an awful lot cheaper. The chairman came on to me and said ‘look, he’s available now, for about £8 million.” said the Spurs boss
“The fee came crashing down because the deadline got close. He’s a quality player, a Dutch international, a great footballer and for that sort of money he’s a top player and he would certainly improve us, for sure so we made the effort.”
“It was only when the chairman rang me about 4 o’clock and said there was an opportunity, I said that he wanted to have a go let’s crack on and see if we can pull it off.”
If all goes well the Dutch international will also be eligible for participation in Tottenham’s inaugural Champions League campaign. Exciting times indeed for the North-Londoners.
