Of all the ‘legends’ returning to Tottenham for the final test event at the new stadium tomorrow, only Jurgen Klinsmann won hearts and minds as quickly as Rafael van der Vaart.

The Dutchman spent just two seasons at Spurs after signing on deadline day in August 2010, but he is among the most treasured former players of this century. Little wonder, given Van der Vaart considers Spurs the best spell of an exhilarating career that began at Ajax and ended at Danish cub Ebsjerg in November, via Hamburg, Real Madrid, Real Betis and Midtjylland.

“The way I played, Tottenham was the best phase of my career,” he said ahead of Saturday’s ‘Legends’ match against Inter Milan. “It’s always a warm feeling when I think back.”

It was not just Van der Vaart’s effortless talent that immediately won over supporters. It took him no time to get a feel for a club where, as their Double-winning captain Danny Blanchflower put it, “the game is about doing things in style”.

Mauricio Pochettino and the current squad, who visit Liverpool on Sunday, have set their sights higher but, in Van der Vaart’s day, understanding Spurs also meant something else: getting one over Arsenal. It was a duty he relished, saving his biggest performances for the north London derby and scoring four times in as many meetings with the Gunners, including in a first away win in 17 years in November, 2010.

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“It’s really important that when you come to a club, you know the history,” he said. “My dream was always Real Madrid or Barcelona, but for the fans of Tottenham, the club is the biggest in the world. So that’s how I treated it.

I got goosebumps every time I walked into the Lane … it was the best phase of my career Van der Vaart

“These days, there’s a lot of tactics but people come to see a back-heel, nice goals, teams that prefer to win 4-3 instead of 1-0. That’s what I liked about Spurs.

“From the beginning, I remember [player liaison] Allan Dixon said, ‘Rafa, there’s only one game’. He was thinking about the away game [at Arsenal] because they didn’t win it for so many years. Two-nil down, I scored and had two assists. You can imagine how that day was.”

You can hear the affection in Van der Vaart’s voice when he talks about Spurs and he views his spell with a mixture of nostalgia and regret, describing a return to Hamburg in 2012, shortly after Andre Villas-Boas replaced Harry Redknapp, as “a stupid decision”.

Like many of the players who will line-up against Inter in front of 50,000 fans on Saturday, he still feels a deep connection to the club. “It’s the people,” he said. “We always talk about the fans — they give me such a warm feeling. When you put something on Instagram, the English people are always so positive. As a player, you need that. You play for the fans. They know you feel proud to play at Tottenham, then the connection is there. It’s like a warm bath, a family. I met so many nice people there I still have contact with.”

He describes Redknapp as a “father figure” and, somewhat surprisingly, he even felt the love from chairman Daniel Levy, who was already plotting Spurs’s move to a state-of-the-art training ground and a new stadium.

“I had a fantastic relationship with Daniel. We spoke a lot about the club, how to make it bigger and better,” he says. “He wanted to know how it was at Real, with the training ground. I said, ‘Go up there and see’. I think they did and took some ideas from it.”

People prefer to win 4-3 instead of 1-0. That’s what I liked about Spurs. Van der Vaart

As for Redknapp’s arm-around-the-shoulder management, was it really as simple as suggested? “I remember one time I played a fantastic first half. He just said, ‘Rafa, what the f***? What a player! Please continue!’ You grow — and in the second half I played even better. He was more like a fan. Sometimes after the game, he just thanked the players for a great afternoon.”

The old White Hart Lane was also a part of the connection, which is why Van der Vaart will have mixed feelings when he finally sets eyes on Tottenham’s magnificent new stadium. The ‘Legends’ game is the last step to earning a safety certificate from Haringey Council before the stadium officially opens against Crystal Palace on Wednesday, and Van der Vaart will be joined by Robbie Keane, David Ginola, Jurgen Klinsmann and Dimitar Berbatov, among others.

“Every time I walked into White Hart Lane, I got goosebumps,” he says. “I felt so privileged to play there, to make the people happy. Sometimes you have a rough week, you didn’t play well away. But you come back and think, ‘Yeah, this is life, this is football, let’s play’.”

The team in which Van der Vaart played finished fifth and fourth but Pochettino’s side go to Liverpool in third, having significantly raised the bar in the past five years. The 36-year-old believes he played his part in their return to relevance as a European force.

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“I think we made the difference,” he said. “It was positive football, like the Dutch way. That made a big impact.”

Since retiring, Van der Vaart is enjoying work as a pundit but is interested in a role in football, claiming he could return to Spurs. And he does not view Saturday as the farewell he never had.

“I hate goodbyes,” he said. “I’m 100 per cent sure that we stay in contact and that I’m going to be there a lot more times. In which role, I don’t know yet. So, no goodbye, just hello again.”