Whirlwind few hours sees van der Vaart deal sealed

Spurs had been sweating on clearance to bring Holland midfielder Van der Vaart to White Hart Lane after technical difficulties hampered their efforts to submit the relevant paperwork for the signing before Tuesday's 6pm transfer deadline.

But after investigating the club's claims that there were difficulties involving computer servers used in the transaction between themselves and Real, the Premier League yesterday ratified the move.

That allowed Tottenham to announce the 27-year-old's signing less than two hours before top-flight clubs had to submit their 25-man squads for the first half of the league season.

Van der Vaart, deemed surplus to requirements at Real, said: "Four years at Spurs, for E11m, I can hardly believe it myself.

"The interest from Tottenham came very quick and I did not have much time to think.

"But I want to play football again and if possible every week, with a beautiful club. I'm totally happy.

"I am excited about playing in England. Whether it suits my style remains to be seen, but I think a good footballer can adapt and I am very proud of this transfer."

Manager Harry Redknapp revealed he was alerted to van der Vaart's availability just two hours before the window closed.

Redknapp also claimed the player had been set to join Bayern Munich for 18m on Monday until the move broke down. However, that was categorically denied yesterday afternoon by Real.

Stoke City claimed on Tuesday night that they were awaiting Premier League approval on the triple signing of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Jermaine Pennant and Marc Wilson.

Not only did they get the green light, they also managed to convert what had been a season-long loan for Monaco's Gudjohnsen into a permanent one-year deal, making their capture of the former Chelsea and Barcelona an even bigger coup.

The other transfer to be confirmed yesterday saw Everton announce defensive stalwart Joseph Yobo had completed his season-long loan move to Turkish side Fenerbahce.

New Birmingham City recruit Alexander Hleb claimed he turned down offers from Tottenham, Liverpool and Benfica this summer after Blues boss Alex McLeish pulled off something of a coup by recruiting the former Arsenal midfielder on a season-long loan from Barcelona.

Hleb said: "Birmingham wanted to do the deal more than the rest so they were my preference."