Tottenham pulled off arguably the best transfer deadline deal on Tuesday, landing Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart in a $12 million move from Real Madrid. The club announced the completion of the move on Wednesday.
Van Der Vaart gives Spurs a midfield boost as the club prepares to play in the UEFA Champions League. His creativity and goal-scoring ability from midfield should give Tottenham the firepower it will need to compete on two fronts.
Here are some other stories from Wednesday to get your day going:
FERDINAND TO RETURN TONIGHT
Rio Ferdinand has not played since a pre-World Cup knee injury forced him to miss this summer's World Cup, but the Manchester United defender will return to the field for the first time since that setback in a reserve team match against Oldham.
Ferdinand's return can't come soon enough for the Red Devils, who have watched Johnny Evans struggle in his place. If Ferdinand doesn't have any setbacks, he could be available to play in Manchester United's match against Everton on Sept. 11th.
BALLACK TO REMAIN GERMAN CAPTAIN
Michael Ballack will still be German national team captain, but he has to fight for a place on the squad before reclaiming the armband.
Germany manager Joachim Loew revealed on Tuesday that Ballack would return to his role as captain after being replaced during the World Cup by Phillip Lahm when Ballack was forced to miss the tournament due to an injury.
First, Ballack must battle for playing time in a midfield that features younger and more in-form options in Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
FREE KICKS
UEFA has banned vuvuzelas from Euro qualifiers.
Stoke City landed Eidur Gudjohnsen before the deadline.
Everton defender Joseph Yobo is joining Fenerbahce on loan.
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What do you think of these developments? Think Van Der Vaart can help Tottenham advance past the group stage in the Champions League? Surprised to see Ferdinand back in action so soon? See Ballack ever having a major role with Germany again?
Share your thoughts below.
Awesome news for Tottenham! Now they are boosting there chances of winning the Premiere League this season. Looking forward to seeing Van der Vaart in action.
Kaka is awful, so I don’t consider passing him to be much of an accomplishment. Granero has usually been used on the wing, not as a CAM, so I don’t see how you can say he replaced him.
I am indifferent towards Tottenham. They have a solid midfield so I am not sure why this move should be hailed as a some sort of wunderbargain.
Where do you see me “comparing” him to anyone?
Robben was a “flop” because he was allegedly hurt all the time. I am not sure I could name a more fragile player currently playing.
Now will gladly tune into a Spurs game for a glimpse of VDV’s wife…
::rolls eyes:: Yeah, because Gooners are soooooooooo polite to Yids. You know why we call ourselves that, right?
Wesley Sneidjer also wasn’t wanted at Real Madrid.
Great news about the vuvuzelas…but no real need to ban them….my guess is that most europeans hate them anyway and would not use them. I know the Greeks don’t like them. But we really don’t like much. Including our own team most of the time.
Not necessarily true. He could be on the team because, due to recent playing form, no one values him.
I wouldn’t say VDV is in another class than Modric. Modric is a tremendous talent. As you said he is fragile though. Having two talented central midfielders certainly bodes well for Spurs. I don’t think Palacios will be seeing much playing time this year.
VDV did not get a fair shake at Madrid. This is an major talent pickup for the Spurs. They just moved (if they weren’t already) into a dark horse role for Champions league.
what’s the big deal about that…thats actually his name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrzA_jhtgr0
They used to be sold at DC games 10 years ago – have no idea why people think they are new….
I always call this guy Van Der Fart.
LOL..as an Arsenal fan..i have officicaly declared my hate for VDV
i never thought i would say it..but
Nasri>>>>VDV
PS: you need to see the trahs spurs fans say about arsenal in forums,,and really anti-french stuff
Why does competition for a spot “not bode well for Spector’s future”? If the club did not value him, he would be gone. But he’s there and like all others on the team will have to fight for his place. He has a shot to earn his place. I thought competition is what the whole sport thing is about?
Good move by UEFA for Euros
watch and learn this year. first of all, he was behind kaka at real which is not anything to be ashamed of…and when kaka got hurt…van de vaart actually played well enough to take over that position (over granero) for a stretch until he got hurt himself…second of all, when they decided to play him, they played him out of position as a withdrawn striker and a winger instead of the lampard attacking midfielder position he’s more comfortable in so if he can stay healthy i think spurs fans will see something closer to the hamburg euro 2008 van de vaart instead of the real madrid world cup 2010 van de vaart
Don’t compare him to Bale; that’s apples to oranges. Bale is a LW and VDV plays centrally. Modric is a good player but doesn’t have the durability to last a whole season. Kranjcar is a good squad player. VDV is in another class with a much better pedigree than those two.
IIRC, Arjen Robben was considered a flop at RM too. Everywhere else VDV’s goal-scoring record for a midfielder speaks for itself. Since we couldn’t get a world-class striker, this move was most definitely a welcome “consolation prize.”
“His creativity and goal-scoring ability from midfield should give Tottenham the firepower it will need to compete on two fronts.”
Really? He seldom if ever demonstrated this type of ability at Madrid. Didn’t see much of him at the World Cup, either.
I wouldn’t take him over Kranjcar, Modric or Bale.
FIFA needs to mandate a vuvuzela ban outside of South Africa. Anywhere else and it’s not a cultural thing.. just a noise disturbance.
Also of note was West Ham’s last minute acquisition of a right back. Certainly flew under the radar and does not bode well for Spector’s future there.
Good move for ‘Arry and the Spuds