Ex-Spurs Star Reveals He Turned Down Opportunities to Sign for Liverpool & Arsenal

Former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has revealed his life in the Premier League could have panned out differently as he declined the opportunity to join Liverpool as a 19-year-old.

The Nertherlands international has had a long and illustrious career on the international stage, and with Ajax, Real Madrid and Tottenham. However, the 35-year-old - currently playing for Denmark's Midtjylland - had opportunities to join either Arsenal or Liverpool prior to making the move to White Hart Lane in 2010. 

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The Gunners deployed Robin van Persie to persuade Van der Vaart to join the club, whilst Liverpool manager Gerrard Houllier was a huge admirer of the attacking midfielder and was eager for him to forge a partnership with Michael Owen.

Neither move eventuated and when asked by FourFourTwo, via the Express, if there was ever a possibility of joining Arsenal, Van der Vaart revealed: “Yeah, it did get mentioned. 

"I had several conversations with Robin van Persie, my team-mate with the Dutch side, and he had spoken to Arsenal about me a few times, but I never head anything. I did not regret it - joining Spurs was the best thing that happened to me.

“I actually had the chance to move to the Premier League a lot earlier. When I was about 19, Gerard Houllier wanted to take me to Liverpool.

“I was flattered, of course, but at the time I wasn’t that interested in moving abroad. However, my agent said it would be a good idea to give Houllier a call.

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“He explained that he had talked about me with Michael Owen, who had said he would be happy to play with me at Liverpool. It was amazing to hear that, but I was still sure I wanted to remain at Ajax,” he added. 

Van der Vaart spent two years with Tottenham, where he played over 60 times for the club and netted more than 20 goals. 

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