• Premier League ratify transfer after assessing documentation
• Spurs moved for Van der Vaart only two hours before deadline

Rafael van der Vaart’s £8m transfer to Tottenham Hotspur from Real Madrid has been officially ratified by the Premier League, the club’s website confirmed this afternoon.

It is understood that the delay in confirmation was due to the late arrival of paperwork at the governing body close to yesterday’s transfer window deadline.

Gloucester Place received a deluge of documentation moments before the window officially closed at 6pm, with the Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, revealing yesterday that the club had only open talks for Van der Vaart at 4pm.

Redknapp said: “I thought he was going to Bayern Munich for about £18m and suddenly he became an awful lot cheaper and the chairman came to me and said: ‘Look, he’s available for around about £8m.’

“I felt we’d already got a good squad, it wasn’t a case of really being desperate to get anyone in. It was only when he rung me at about four o’clock and told me there was an opportunity here and did I want to do something?

“I said: ‘I don’t really want to spend your money but if you feel you want to have a go then, well, let’s push on and give it a crack and see if we can pull it off.’”

Van der Vaart becomes Redknapp’s second deadline-beating signing after Spurs earlier sealed a loan deal for the Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

Tottenham HotspurReal MadridTransfer windowJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk

After Barcelona’s beautiful display at the Emirates, David Lacey recalls six other aesthetically pleasing sides

Tottenham Hotspur (1959-60)

The pre-Double Spurs side sticks in the mind because of the impact it had on an era dominated by the breathless, long-passing style of Stan Cullis’s Wolves. The subtler, more-thoughtful football of Bill Nicholson’s team gave the English game a new learning.

Real Madrid (1959-60)

Even when seen on a tiny NAAFI screen, Real Madrid’s performance in beating Eintracht Frankfurt 7‑3 at Hampden in the European Cup final shone out as one of the finest displays of attacking football ever seen. And amid all the colour and HD, it still does.

Real Zaragoza (1965-66)

Don Revie’s Leeds expected to beat Real Zaragoza in a Fairs Cup semi-final playoff at Elland Road but were given a lesson in passing, movement and pure skill by the Magnificent Five – Canario, Santos, Marcelino, Villa, La Petra – and lost 3-1.

West Ham United (1966-67)

Ron Greenwood’s West Ham team met Leeds in the League Cup and won 7-0 with a performance approaching perfection. An abiding image is of Johnny Byrne, with Jack Charlton up his back, bouncing the ball three times on an instep before volleying Geoff Hurst clear.

Brazil (1970)

Brazil’s performance in the 1970 World Cup final has never been surpassed and the last of their goals in the 4-1 defeat of Italy is widely regarded as the best ever scored. Perhaps, perhaps not, but if any team has bettered the build-up and Pele’s final pass to Carlos Alberto they have kept quiet about it.

Milan (1988-89)

Four days after Hillsborough, the San Siro sang You’ll Never Walk Alone and Milan beat Real Madrid 5-0 in the European Cup semi-final with a performance which was more about art than conflict and saw Ruud Gullit start, mould and execute a goal of sheer beauty.

European footballReal MadridBrazilMilanReal ZaragozaTottenham HotspurWest Ham UnitedDavid Laceyguardian.co.uk