Rafael van der Vaart once had a dressing room fight with one of his team-mates at Tottenham after they ignored his reputation of having played for La Liga giants Real Madrid.
The Dutchman spent two years with Los Blancos, making 73 appearances and scoring 12 goals in all competitions, though he did find it difficult to stamp his mark on the team at times.
Though he excelled in his final season as he replaced Kaka when the iconic star was injured, Van der Vaart opted to join Tottenham on transfer deadline day in the summer of 2010.
He was a statement signing for Harry Redknapp when he arrived at White Hart Lane for £8million and quickly became a fan favourite with his performances for the Premier League side.
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But while Tottenham supporters were delighted to see Van der Vaart join, it appears that his arrival did not set pulses racing with everyone at the club.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto has now revealed that he had no idea who the new star man was, despite having played against him for Cameroon at the 2010 World Cup.
“When he came to Tottenham, I didn’t know who he was,” Assou-Ekotto told The Athletic.
“He is from Madrid? He said hello to everyone in the team and I said hello. I said to one of the players, ‘Who is he?’ And we took the team photo.”
It appears that Van der Vaart was less than impressed at Assou-Ekotto’s ignorance, with the former full-back opening up about a time when they came to blows.
Assou-Ekotto has claimed that the Dutchman was unhappy that he was not the first-choice free-kick taker.
That frustration boiled over in the dressing room and led to a fight, though Assou-Ekotto revealed that the Dutchman handed him the ball for a set-piece just a few days later.
“Sometimes you can work with a partner who is fake for six months to a year but then after a few years he explodes and says, ‘I don’t like that’,” he added.
“You have to say it from day one, and then no more problems.
“We actually had a fight in the dressing room once about free kicks. He had an expectation about that, and after that we became even more close.
“On the Sunday I had the fight with him, then a few days later he gives me the ball and I score against Everton. He was happy and we were close.”
Van der Vaart would only spend two years at Spurs before joining Bundesliga side Hamburg in August 2012.
The midfielder had scored 28 goals in his two seasons at White Hart Lane, becoming a firm fan favourite, in much the same way as his opponent in the fight.
Assou-Ekotto meanwhile became an icon for Tottenham before leaving for Saint-Ettiene in 2015 and retiring three years later after a two-season spell at Metz.
