Former Tottenham midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart has revealed he could have joined Liverpool earlier in his career, but his love for his mum’s cooking put an end to the idea.
Van der Vaart spent two years at Tottenham after arriving from Real Madrid in August 2010, enjoying a highly impressive spell that saw him score 28 goals and register 18 assists in 77 games for the club.
They were one of several stops during a varied career that saw him playing in England, Spain, Germany and even Norway.
His time at the top of the game started in his native Netherlands with Ajax, where he made his way up the youth ranks and established himself as a first-team star between between 2000 and 2005.
Those early days saw him emerge as one of the hottest young prospects in European football, racking up 156 appearances for the club, scoring 61 goals and registering 28 assists.
Things, though, could have been very different for him, with the former midfielder revealing Liverpool came calling in the early stages of his career.
“I had Gérard Houllier on the phone when I was eighteen. He called me and told me to come to Paris,” Ajax Showtime report him saying.
“I still liked my mother’s frikandels too much. So I said: no, no, no, I don’t want to. Please, leave me at Ajax!
“Then Houllier was really disappointed, but I said straight away in the interview: I like it, respect, everything good, but I absolutely don’t want to go to Liverpool.”
Van der Vaart ➠ Liverpool? 💫
Een 18-jarige @rafvdvaart maakte indruk op het Amsterdam Tournament en kreeg een belletje van Liverpool-coach Gerard Houllier 📞Uiteindelijk kwam het er nooit van.. 👀#ZiggoSport #UCL #LIVINT pic.twitter.com/LJjSa7zglF
— Ziggo Sport Voetbal (@ZS_Voetbal) March 8, 2022
