Former Real Madrid and Tottenham attacker Rafael Van Der Vaart claims he had the chance to join Barcelona but decided not to take up that career option. The Dutchman who later on went to represent their eternal rivals explained why he decided not to sign for the club.
Speaking to Noordhollands Dagblad he said, “Barcelona wanted to sign me when I was 16. But I never even considered a transfer. I felt that I had to make a name for myself at Ajax first.”
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The Dutchman chose to stay at Ajax and wait for another opportunity to come about. After a three-season spell with German side Hamburg, Van Der Vaart got the big money move to Real Madrid in 2008.
He did not have too much success with Los Blancos and stayed at the club for two seasons. He made 73 appearances in those two years scoring just 12 goals. Soon after that, he made his move to the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur.
He had a successful three-year spell with the London club scoring 28 goals in two seasons. Spurs still remember him fondly and he remains a cult hero at White Hart Lane. His last successful spell was with his former club Hamburg where he made 86 appearances in three seasons.
Van Der Vaart’s plea to Dutch youngsters
Van Der Vaart like many others in the past have left the famed Ajax academy for new pastures. The likes of Timothy Fosu Mensah of Manchester United and Donyell Malen of Arsenal amongst others have moved early to England for a shot at the big time.
But Van Der Vaart believes Dutch youngsters should not rush into a transfer out of the country so soon. He still feels the Eredivisie is a good platform to build one’s skills and then make the jump to the elite European leagues.
"That is my advice to promising youngsters in the Eredivisie as well, to show what they can do in the Netherlands first before making the move elsewhere, You see that there is a lot of hype about youngsters these days, they get all sorts of praise after a few games. It's the same in the Netherlands. You play a few good games and you get called up for the national team and are being linked with big clubs.”
Several former Dutch academy graduates have done what Van Der Vaart did during his career. Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder are some of the success stories from the country.
