Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid for a fee of €11 million.

The transfer was completed just two hours before the transfer window closed late on Tuesday, which caused a frantic scramble to file the paperwork in time, and hence Tottenham were left to wait overnight to see if Premier League would allow the transfer.

The Premier League said in a statement: “The Premier League can confirm the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart’s registration from Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur.”

A statement on Spurs’ website read: “We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of Rafael Van der Vaart. The Holland international came through the ranks at Ajax and won two league titles during 141 appearances with the Eredivisie side, scoring 60 goals before leaving for Hamburg in the summer of 2005.

“The attacking midfielder, 27, was the Bundesliga side’s leading scorer in his first season in Germany and went on to captain the side before joining Real Madrid ahead of the 2007/08 campaign. Rafael has been capped by Holland a total of 83 times, scoring 16 goals, since making his international debut against Andorra in 2001 at the age of 18.

“He has since represented the Netherlands at two European Championships and two World Cups, including this summer’s tournament in South Africa where he featured five times in the side’s run to the final.”


Van der Vaart was delighted with the move to Tottenham, and will add strength to the Spurs squad as they will compete in the Champions League this season.

“The interest from Tottenham came very quick and I did not have much time to think,” van der Vaart said.

“But I want to play football again and if possible every week, with a beautiful club. I ‘m totally happy.

“I am excited about playing in England. Whether it suits my style remains to be seen, but I think a good footballer can adapt and I am very proud of this transfer.”

Van der Vaart has 83 international caps for Netherlands, scoring 16 goals. He was also a part of the Netherlands squad that reached the World Cup final before losing to Spain.

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