Rafael van der Vaart has been in London for long enough to recognise one truism of life in the capital. The taxi drivers can talk at dizzier rates than those illuminated on their meters, particularly if the subject is football.

"It's funny," says the Tottenham Hotspur and Holland attacking midfielder. "Almost every time it's an Arsenal-supporting driver, he says the same joke. 'If you were Robin van Persie the ride is free but since it's you, you have to pay.' It's no problem. I pay."

Footballers have amusing stories to tell from cabs. Take Paolo Rossi, the Italy striker, who was being taken into a Brazilian city more than 20 years after his hat-trick had sunk the country at the 1982 World Cup. Rossi had barely changed in appearance and the driver, after several checks in the rear-view mirror, was convinced.

"Is it you," he said. "Paolo Rossi?" "Yes," Rossi replied, beaming. The door flew open. "Get out." Rossi was stranded on the roadside.

Van der Vaart may consider himself to have got off lightly, given his habit of tormenting Arsenal. Since his arrival at Tottenham from Real Madrid in August of last year, he has played against them in three Premier League derbies and scored on each occasion.

There was the penalty in last November's 3-2 win at the Emirates – Tottenham's first away derby triumph since 1993 – and the two goals in the White Hart Lane return, which ended 3-3; Van der Vaart's second was the equaliser from the spot. This season, he opened the scoring in the 2-1 home win in October.

It feels natural to Van der Vaart to bring up the derbies and not only, as he points out with a smile, because of his goals in them or, perhaps, his friendly rivalry with Van Persie, his international team-mate. "When I came to Tottenham," he says, "the whole club was only talking about the game against Arsenal. Of course, Arsenal is the big team in London."

But to Van der Vaart, the reference point is shifting and Tottenham must no longer measure themselves in the shadow of their neighbours. He can feel the optimism and, having heard the tales of how the club have traditionally found a way to mess up things, he senses that it will be different this time.

"We have a great squad and it's not just about a game against Arsenal. That was the most positive thing that I saw when we beat them this season. We were happy but it was not like we had won the title or something. We won the game and that's it. That says a lot about this team."

The 28-year-old is one of the game's romantics, an instinctive playmaker who feels the duty to entertain. "When I lose the fun in football, it's better to quit," he says. He is also something of an adrenaline junkie, who has marvelled at the "electric" energy of a midweek White Hart Lane crowd and fed off it. He described the atmosphere during that 3-3 derby draw in April as "one of the most impressive" of his career. This is a player who knows a thing or two about the cathedrals of European football.

"I feel like I am part of a grand adventure and everybody at the club has the feeling that we have something special coming. I don't know what but we are winning our games, also against the lower teams, which we didn't do last season. We have more confidence. The Champions League was unbelievable last season and that is where I want to play."

Van der Vaart's transition from Madrid to Tottenham was always going to be startling. He remembers his presentation as a Real player in 2008, following his £11.4m move from Hamburg, in front of 20,000 fans at the Bernabéu and being "so nervous" that he could barely perform his tricks. To wear the famous white shirt was "a dream for the whole family", given that his mother's side of it are Spanish.

"Madrid was paradise, we had everything," Van der Vaart says, as he recalled his first day at Spurs Lodge when he looked up at the shower and felt no water. "I remember that the shower wasn't working and then we had my press conference in the little room. But Tottenham is pure football and pure people … nice, warm people. That's why I like Tottenham. And everybody who comes to the stadium can smell the history."

Title talk is in the air in N17 and although Van der Vaart urges caution, pointing out that Manchester City are "the favourites … they have too many good players", his admission that second place is "really open" illustrates how Tottenham have recalibrated their sights.

He feels a kindred spirit in Harry Redknapp, an enthusiast who prioritises the spectacle, even if he does not always appreciate the manager's decisions to substitute him. In 48 starts in all competitions for the club, he has seen his number go up 31 times. It has led to arguments yet Van der Vaart is nothing if not open, upfront and, let's face it, typically Dutch.

"When your relationship is good, you can tell somebody the truth. It's better to do it like this. To go to him and talk about it rather than go behind his back or say something in the newspapers. You always have to be honest. You get to a certain point and then you say, 'Listen, I don't like it'. I think it's a good thing and I also go home happy. You are not frustrated."

The question for Tottenham is whether they can keep Redknapp beyond the summer, when England will need a successor to Fabio Capello. Van der Vaart does not sugarcoat his answer. "I hope Harry is going to stay but, to be honest, I think he is maybe the right man for the [England] job. The players would accept him … and especially, the people in England, everybody loves him, so I think it is going to be a good move from the England organisation. It would be bad for Tottenham but somebody else would come."

Van der Vaart's frustrations in England have been linked to muscular injuries. They are the reason that Redknapp handles him with care and, also, why he did not register him for the Europa League campaign, a decision that did not sit well with the player. Van der Vaart had a hamstring problem and was scheduled to be out for six weeks and so Redknapp did not consider him but, characteristically, he returned quickly. "A misunderstanding," was Van der Vaart's interpretation.

The speed of his recoveries from various strains and tears has been remarkable and attributable to his work with the Rotterdam-based physiotherapist Dick van Toorn, who is a controversial figure due to his methods that accelerate the healing process. Van der Vaart has his own personalised training programme at Tottenham, that sees him work twice a week in the gym but, thanks to Van Toorn, he does not worry about muscular setbacks. Van Toorn's critics say that his treatment provides only short-term fixes and can lead to problems in the longer term.

"I go there and after one week, I can run and shoot again. It's a lot of acupuncture, chiropractic work … and a lot of power training. You have a lot of pain when you have pulled your hamstring, for example, but he is still training, training, training. I always go there for four days and it's two four-hour sessions per day."

If there is a barrel-chested strut about Van der Vaart's game, there is a humility about him off the pitch. And good humour. He talks about how he renewed his wedding vows with Sylvie, a model and television presenter, in Las Vegas over the summer. Was it a spontaneous decision? Van der Vaart inhales deeply. "To be honest, I wanted to go to Las Vegas and Sylvie … not. So I had to make it a little bit attractive."

At his Tottenham unveiling, he described himself as a "streetfighter", who had emerged from a caravan park in Beverwijk, near Amsterdam, to scale the game's peaks. He played in the World Cup final in South Africa as a substitute. "How many people can say that?" he says.

Sylvie, too, is a fighter and her battle against breast cancer, which began in Van der Vaart's first season in Madrid, has been successful. "She lost her hair and it was a hard time," he says. "Our son, Damián, who was two and a half at the time, was looking and wondering why she didn't have hair. She kept on working, too. She was amazing. It offered me a lot of perspective. Football is important but it's not the most important thing."

Van der Vaart has thrown himself into his life at Tottenham. His son trains with the under-sixes and Van der Vaart sits down for this interview after delivering Christmas presents to the children at Chase Farm hospital in Enfield. A highlight comes when a mother thrusts her mobile phone at him and demands that he speak to her Tottenham-obsessed husband. A couple of smooth-talking moments later and Van der Vaart has made the supporter's season.

He intends to do likewise for plenty more.

Rafael van der Vaart was speaking at a visit to the children's ward at Enfield's Chase Farm, one of five local hospitals Tottenham Hotspur players visit at Christmas