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Tottenham signing Van der Vaart: I rejected Atletico Madrid

Submitted by tribalfootball.com on Sat, 09/04/2010 - 00:30

Tottenham signing Rafael van der Vaart admits he rejected a late move to Atletico Madrid.

The former Real Madrid midfielder joined Spurs on deadline day amid talk of a failed bid from Bayern Munich.

Of Bayern's interest, he said: "The offer from Bayern never ended up being concrete.

"In the end, only Atletico Madrid pushed but neither I nor the club wanted me to go there."

There have been suggestions new Real boss Jose Mourinho was reluctant to let Van der Vaart leave and that sporting director Jorge Valdano was behind his departure.

Van der Vaart said: "I don't want to speak badly about anybody - I have too much respect for the club."

The midfielder added that he would love to return to the Bernabeu in what is Spurs' debut Champions League season.

"It's a shame that some Madrid fans were sad that I was sold but I'm sure we will see each other again soon," he said. "It would be a dream to go back to the Bernabeu with Tottenham. I would feel at home.

"It was sad for me to leave. I have a lot of good friends in the dressing room. The fans have always treated me well and I have a great opinion of Mourinho. He has won everything."

 
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Comments (1)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 09/04/2010 - 13:41.

rejected atletico? What an Idiot. Instead of being part of a circus you could have been part of a real club

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