The attacker was one of the north London club's biggest transfer deadline signings and he admits making a mistake in leaving Tottenham
Rafael van der Vaart has admitted once again that he made a mistake in leaving Tottenham back in 2012 after becoming a popular figure at the north London club.
The Dutchman remains Spurs' most famous transfer deadline signing in recent memory after the club's former chairman Daniel Levy stunned their fans by making a last-gasp swoop to bring him in from Real Madrid in the summer of 2010 after the World Cup.
The £8million move, made just two hours before the window closed, was only ratified after the Premier League confirmed Tottenham had been given special dispensation to get the deal done due to technical problems.
Wearing the number 11 shirt, Van der Vaart would go on to become a hugely popular figure at Spurs under Harry Redknapp with 46 goal involvements in 77 matches, starring in both the Premier League and Champions League. However, a couple of years later, with Andre Villas-Boas having just taken charge, the Netherlands international decided to return to former club Hamburg.
Van der Vaart admitted in a podcast appearance this week that his move back to Germany was a mistake at that time in his career.
"It sounds strange now, but I don’t think it was smart to go back to HSV. I was at the top of my game at Tottenham. I wanted to help HSV and thought: They can’t be relegated. My heart beats for HSV, but from a sporting perspective, it wasn’t the best decision," he said on the podcast Phrasenmaher and reported by Bild and Sport Witness.
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This is not the first time Van der Vaart has bemoaned his decision to swap N17 for Hamburg and he had admitted that just three years after leaving Tottenham.
"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," he told the Daily Mirror back then. "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."
He also praised former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who left the club shortly before him.
"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," he said.
"[Leaving] was a little to do with everything. It was private things, but also when what's his name [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."