Rafael Van der Vaart looking forward to toppling Arsenal

Spurs have been in the shadow of their north London neighbours for the best part of two decades.

But transfer deadline-day signing Van der Vaart believes he can inspire his new side to turn the tables on them this term.

"Why not?" said the 27-year-old Holland midfielder, who was officially unveiled yesterday after training with his team-mates for the first time.

"Arsenal have a great team also with a lot of young players but our squad is not worse than Arsenal's.

"I think we will have a chance to win against them and also, over the season, we can try to beat them."

Van der Vaart cannot wait to put his theory to the test in the north London derby, which could see him come up against Holland team-mate Robin van Persie.

"I already spoke with Robin and he said it is the greatest derby in the world," Van der Vaart said.

"I'm looking forward to playing in the derby."

As well as trying to topple Arsenal, the midfielder admitted he had something to prove to Real Madrid, who let him go for what seemed a bargain £8million on transfer deadline day.

Asked if he was keen to prove them wrong, he said: "Yes, maybe. I hope. It would be a dream to win something with Tottenham.

"For me the most important thing will be to enjoy my football and to win something with this club.
"I don't want to look back at Real Madrid. For me that's in the past. Now I want to play."

Van der Vaart was confident his best years were still ahead of him and revealed he hoped to make a similar impact in England to Dennis Bergkamp.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp swooped for Van der Vaart in the dying moments of the transfer window in a deal that was not ratified until the following afternoon.

Van der Vaart revealed he had only "10 minutes" to make up his mind to move to White Hart Lane.

He added: "I was calling my wife and I said, 'We are going to London'. She was a little bit shocked.

"But at the end, she was also happy and I was also happy."

Van der Vaart's wife Sylvie is a Dutch model and television personality and she sparked just as much interest at his unveiling as her husband.

"Of course my wife is famous, perhaps more famous than I am!" joked Van der Vaart when asked if he was prepared for her to be followed by the paparazzi.

"But we can handle that. We love to be in England; I think it's a great country.

"I always wanted to play in England. My private life or the silly stuff, I don't like it. I only want to play football."