Rafael van der Vaart has made an admission about how initiations worked at Tottenham Hotspur during his time at the club, and it sounds expensive.Van der Vaart arrived at Tottenham on transfer deadline day of 2010, and he was an instant hit among the White Hart Lane faithful.Spurs fans love watching a creative number ten of the Dutchman’s mould, and what endeared them to the attacking midfielder even more was his passion, as he played with his heart on his sleeve.Van der Vaart also always turned up against Arsenal, often saving his best for the North London derby, and he was part of one of the most exciting Tottenham teams to watch in recent decades under Harry Redknapp.Photo by IAN KINGTON / AFP via Getty ImagesRafael van der Vaart admits he spent more than €20k on Tottenham initiationWhile the midfielder was on £70k-per-week at Tottenham, which was a high salary in 2010, he has now shared that he spent nearly a third of his week’s wages in one night when he arrived at the club.Van der Vaart revealed that the tradition at Spurs was to treat the team to dinner, and he had to pick up the tab after an expensive night out in Dubai.When asked what the ‘most expensive night of his life was’, Van der Vaart said in the podcast Phrasenmähe (as relayed by Sport Witness): “At Tottenham, we had to sing for our initiation and treat the team to dinner. I did that at the Cavalli Club in Dubai. In the end, I had to pay somewhere between €20–25k. Unfortunately, a bottle of champagne doesn’t cost just €100 there.”Van der Vaart regrets leaving Spurs in 2012In the end, the Dutchman left Tottenham after just two years, with Van der Vaart deciding to rejoin Hamburg in 2012 after Andre Villas-Boas replaced Harry Redknapp and brought Gylfi Sigurdsson through the door.Van der Vaart has admitted that leaving Spurs was the stupidest decision of his life, confessing that Daniel Levy did not want to let him go.Van der Vaart said back in 2024: “I said it many times, I mean, he [André Villas-Boas] is not the bad guy, but the problem is I came back from holiday, and maybe it is something that belongs to me. He said, ‘You are our second number 10. Sigurdsson first.’ But I was top scorer, and I played two fantastic years.“To come back to the club you love and, all of a sudden, you are on the bench, and then Hamburg come to get me back, and then I was really pushing because Daniel [Levy] did not want to let me go. I was pushing too hard. It was also not really my best performance, but I did the most stupid decision I have ever made in my career—to leave.”READ MORE: Tottenham suffer first injury of international break as Jan Paul van Hecke is sent homeThe post ‘I was a fan favourite at Tottenham but my initiation cost me £20,000’ – Rafa Van der Vaart appeared first on Spurs Web.