AJAX - STAR MAN - RAFAEL VAN DER VAART
By Peter ORourke
Last Updated: 05/04/26 8:06am
The midfield maestro has emerged on the scene in 1999 when Co Adriaanse dropped veteran Richard Witschge to bring in van der Vaart.
Within six months he was a regular in the first team and has gone on to make over 70 appearances for the club scoring an impressive 39 goals in the process.
His form saw him picked for Holland in October 21 against Andorra and with this he became the fourth youngest player to play for his country since the Second World War.
He had been capped as youngster from a very tender age for Holland's youth teams, as the Dutch authorities knew he has a Spanish mother and that Spain were already interested in his abilities when he was a young teenager.
Obviously his talents of not gone unnoticed and Premiership sides Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have been looking, but the player himself is thought to prefer a move to Spain.
