Tottenham Hotspur favourite Rafael van der Vaart reveals his initiation at the Premier League side had left a huge dent in his pocket.
The former Netherlands was at the north London club for two years between 2010 and 2012.
He joined Tottenham from Real Madrid in August 2010, after finishing runners-up with the Netherlands in the World Cup. Oranje lost the final to Spain, who won their second World Cup in July.
Expensive night out while at Tottenham
The 43-year-old appeared as a guest on podcast Phrasenmäher, and Wednesday’s print edition of Bild has relayed his comments.
When asked about the ‘most expensive night out of his life’ with his club, the Dutchman talked about an expensive team dinner with his then Spurs teammates.
“At Tottenham, we had to sing for our initiation and treat the team to dinner. I did that at the Cavalli Club in Dubai. In the end, I had to pay somewhere between €20–25k. Unfortunately, a bottle of champagne doesn’t cost just €100 there,” he said.
It must have pinched him a lot that he still remembers, 14 years after leaving Tottenham Hotspur, the amount he shelled out in Dubai.
| Rafael van der Vaart — Tottenham stats | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances, all competitions | 36 | 39 | 2 | 77 |
| Goals, all competitions | 15 | 13 | 0 | 28 |
| Assists, all competitions | 9 | 9 | 0 | 18 |
| Premier League appearances | 28 | 33 | 2 | 63 |
| Premier League goals | 13 | 11 | 0 | 24 |
Dutchman’s spell at Tottenham
Rafael van der Vaart spent 18 years [2000-2018] of his career at the highest level. This includes two spells at Hamburg SV. The second one started in 2012, when he left Spurs for the Bundesliga side.
On Tuesday, the former midfielder explained he made a mistake of leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Hamburg.
He said: “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.”
The former player managed 28 goals and 18 assists from 77 matches for the north London club.
Despite admitting it was a mistake to leave Tottenham, for the German club, he still continues to admire Hamburg.
When asked about he dreams about, Van der Vaat explained: “The thought of my son Damian (who plays for Ajax’s second team; ed.) scoring a goal for HSV at the Volkspark – and then Lotto King Karl singing ‘Hamburg, meine Perle’ all over again. If I had any say at HSV, I’d bring him back straight away as the stadium announcer.”
