Rafael van der Vaart exclusive: "Leaving Tottenham was the most stupid decision of my career"

The flying Dutchman scored 28 goals in 77 games during his two-year spell in north London before joining Hamburg in 2012

As his contract ticked towards its expiry date at Hamburg last season, Rafael van der Vaart's love for the game began to wilt.

The Dutchman has always erred on the side of 'luxury player' and the lack of possession and the frequent relegation scraps in the Bundesliga were beginning to weigh him down.

All the 32-year-old’s ever wanted to do is have fun playing football; without that enjoyment, he threatens, he would quit the game.

During those protracted, dim winter nights in Germany, he allowed his mind to wander to a time when he was relishing his profession.

"I always used to go the The Live Room in Barnet with Robbie Keane [after Tottenham matches], I still have photos from there actually," he says, laughing, as he remembers pulling pints at Keane's leaving bash.

Rafael van der Vaart's career in pictures

"I've never been back there actually. I've been to London a few times, but you end up in a hotel in the centre."

Van der Vaart has just signed for La Liga side Real Betis following a career which has taken in Ajax, Hamburg, Real Madrid and Tottenham.

He was still living on a caravan park with his family when he made his debut as a 17-year-old for Ajax, a club he won two Eredivisie titles with, and he was presented at the Bernabeu in front of 20,000 frenzied Madrid supporters.

He's been capped over 100 times by Holland and he played in the 2010 World Cup final, but it's those evenings in The Live Room and his two years at White Hart Lane where his memory is often drawn.

"Because I didn't have a contract [this summer] I almost tried to come back [to Spurs], then Betis came and I decided to come to Betis, but Tottenham was always special," he tells Mirror Football at the Seville-based club's Luis del Sol training ground.

"But if [Spurs] had wanted me, I would have gone [back]. But Betis came and the decision was quite quick: Betis."

The two years Van der Vaart spent in North London, he is all too keen to offer, were the best of his career. It begs the question, why did he leave?

"It was a little to do with everything," he continues in the 40 degree heat gripping the south of Spain.