Great signing for Tottenham as Van der Vaart move gets the go-ahead

You’ve got to hand it to Harry Redknapp. I saw the Tottenham boss saying at lunchtime on transfer deadline day that it was very unlikely that his club would be making any moves in the transfer market.

Manager

I also heard him tell another reporter who described him as a ‘wheeler, dealer’ to “fu*k off, I’m a football manager not a fu*king wheeler, dealer”.

Then, what do you know, two hours before the deadline closes they move in to make a signing. Not just any old signing, but Dutch international midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart for £8 million from Real Madrid.

Technical

The transfer of the twenty-seven year old was held up due to technical difficulties but was completed yesterday.

Van der Vaart was Redknapp’s second deadline-day signing following the purchase of Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Russian club Spartak Moscow.

Redknapp claimed that the Van der Vaart deal was all done at the last minute.

“It was a last-minute job. I think he was going to Bayern Munich on Monday for £18 million and suddenly he became much cheaper. They let me know around 4pm that he was available for £8 million and, for that money, he is a top player who will definitely improve us. The fee has come crashing down because the deadline is so close.”

Statement

A statement from Real Madrid totally refuted what Redknapp has said.

“It is absolutely false that Real Madrid received an £18 million offer from Bayern Munich for Van der Vaart. In fact, the German team never showed an interest to sign the player, so the allegations made in England have greatly surprised us.”

At the risk of being told to fu*k off, that sounds a bit like wheeling and dealing to me!

Money

So what have Tottenham got for their money? He has never really produced the goods at Real Madrid where he has been since August 2008 and has now become surplus to requirements under Jose Mourinho.

He made his reputation at Ajax where he played well over one hundred games and helped them to two Eridivisie titles. He then moved to Hamburg where he enhanced his reputation scoring fifty goals in one hundred and sixteen games before moving to Madrid.

Veteran

At international level Van der Vaart has played eighty-three times and appeared at two European Championships and World Cups. He is also a veteran of fifty-two European appearances at club level.

In essence Redknapp has bought in not just a very good player, but one who can provide an enormous amount of experience to the side as they tackle their first Champions League campaign.

Obviously Harry wasn’t wheeling and dealing, but whatever he was doing, I think he has done it very well!