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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Richard Garnett

'I definitely don’t want to go to' - Exciting Ajax youngster turned down Liverpool because of mother's cooking

Liverpool Ajax Gerard Houllier Merseyside

Former Netherlands international Rafael Van der Vaart has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to join Liverpool as a teenager.

The ex-Premier League star, who shone for Tottenham Hotspur after joining from Real Madrid, started his career at Ajax and it was here that then Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier attempted to lure him to Anfield after the youngster impressed during a tournament in Amsterdam.

But speaking to Ziggo Sport after Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg, the 39-year-old said that he turned down the advance, citing his mother's cooking as reason to stay at home.

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