‘I was a Premier League star - if I hadn’t been a footballer I would have run a weed shed’
Rafael van der Vaart left former team-mate Wesley Sneijder laughing hysterically after claiming he would have grown drugs had he not made it as a professional footballer
by Alan Smith · The MirrorFormer Tottenham Hotspur star Rafael van der Vaart has joked he would have grown drugs in his shed had he not made it as a professional footballer.
And the maverick Dutchman left former team-mate Wesley Sneijder in stitches while claiming he could easily have been farming weed instead of troubling some of Europe’s best defences.
Van der Vaart was appearing on Ziggo Sport when the programme’s host asked: “If you had to choose a normal job outside of football tomorrow, what would you do?”
“A normal job? No,” Van der Vaart replied. The host said: “You can't think of anything?”
He shot back: “No, I'm from the trailer park, so maybe a weed shed or something? This is cool, isn't it? That's a normal job!”
The 41-year-old has carved out a spot as an acerbic pundit full of punchy takes since retiring five years ago.
In September he claimed Arsenal would not be able to sustain a Premier League title challenge and previously claimed Liverpool central midfielder Ryan Gravenberch could establish himself as a better player than Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham.
“I took quite a lot of stick when I said Ryan Gravenberch has the potential to be better than Jude Bellingham a year or so ago, but I stand by it," said Van der Vaart recently.
“I’ve always said the sky's the limit for him if he can use his full potential and ability, so I’m not surprised by how good he’s been this season both for Liverpool and the Netherlands.
“He’s strong, quick and intelligent – Liverpool fans should be very excited about what’s to come.”
"He's been there a few years and really spent a lot of money for his own players, which I don't really like," Van der Vaart said." When you as a coach, you bring a lot of Dutch people in or players, I am not the biggest fan of that because when you lose a few times then the pressure is even higher, and the football is also not really getting better."
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