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Van der Vaart – Liverpool loved me
Former Tottenham Hotspur star Rafael van der Vaart has claimed Liverpool wanted to sign him as a teenager, but was in no mood to leave Ajax at that stage in his career.
A product of the Ajax academy, the Dutchman spent his formative years with the Dutch giants before leaving the club for Hamburg in 2005.
Now 37, he went on to play in the Premier League with Tottenham, where he spent two years, and Van der Vaart has continued to be a cult figure among the Spurs fan base.
But in 2002, Liverpool wanted to sign him while he was still a teenager and the Dutchman claimed that former Reds coach Gerard Houllier called him personally to convince him to move to Merseyside.
Inside Futbol quotes Van der Vaart telling Athletic:
“I was a teenager. Gerard Houllier called me to say that they wanted to buy me; He said, “I talk to Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and they would love to play with you and blah blah blah.”
“But I was like, ‘No! I want to stay with my parents and with Ajax. No possibility. So yeah, all good, but sorry, I’m really going to stay with my parents. He was like, ‘No, they can come too.’
“He had only done one season for Ajax. It was nothing and I really wanted to stay and win titles. I was not ready.
“Now sometimes 15 or 16 year olds go from Holland to England because they are offered a lot of money.
“I never thought about it.”
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