Rafael van der Vaart

“When your relationship is good, you can tell somebody the truth.”

“At home, I make the decisions.”

“But Tottenham is pure football and pure people... nice, warm people. That's why I like Tottenham. And everybody who comes to the stadium can smell the history.”

“The way I played, Tottenham was the best phase of my career. It's always a warm feeling when I think back.”

“When I lose the fun in football, it's better to quit.”

“Football is important but it's not the most important thing.”

“I like to relax and watch TV and play with my little boy. I like to play some tennis as well.”

“Every time I walked into White Hart Lane, I got goosebumps. I felt so privileged to play there, to make the people happy.”

“I love to play big games, it makes you a bigger player.”

“It's really important that when you come to a club, you know the history. My dream was always Real Madrid or Barcelona, but for the fans of Tottenham, the club is the biggest in the world. So that's how I treated it.”

“I'm not a player any more, I'm a fan, and I want to see somebody who wants to win and wants to fight.”

“Andre Villas-Boas wasn't the ideal coach for me. He bought Gylfi Sigurdsson and then told me he would be his new No.10.”

“I think it's a good match, Dutch players playing in England.”

“I think the Premier League is the best league in the world.”

“Leaving Tottenham was not by best choice but, apart from that, there haven't been too many regrets in my career.”

“I like to play football, and of course I like to play for Tottenham, but I try to enjoy every game because that's the most important thing, to have fun on the pitch, and then you can play good.”

“Andre Villas-Boas wasn't the ideal coach for me.”

“Twenty-seven is a great age to play. There is so much ahead of you.”

“When I was young, the best moment came when I was 10 and I got invited to the academy. I remember getting all this Ajax training gear and suddenly I was able to call myself an Ajax player.”

“I didn't want to be the next version of any player - I wanted to establish my own name.”