New Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart has claimed Liverpool were interested in signing him this summer but has dismissed reports Bayern Munich also wanted him.

Van der Vaart last week completed a dramatic last-gasp £8million transfer deadline day move to Premier League Tottenham from Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp had suggested Bayern had bid £18million for the Holland midfielder but this was denied by Madrid, while Van der Vaart said the German club had not made a “concrete” offer.

The 27-year-old now says Bayern were not interested but that Liverpool had wanted to secure his services.

He told Sky Sports News: “Liverpool were interested, Bayern were never interested, but you have to have a good feeling and this manager gave me a good feeling and I am really happy to be going to Spurs.”

Van der Vaart revealed his international team-mates who already played for Barclays Premier League clubs were pressing him to join them in England.

“They were telling me that I should come to England; now I am going to be playing in England and am very proud,” he said.

Van der Vaart is likely to make his Spurs debut on Saturday 11th September as the London side travel to take on West Brom.

Betting for the Premier League clash has Tottenham at 1.90 to get the away win, with West Brom 3.75 and the draw available at 3.25.

Don’t forget, all Premier League matches are covered by the bet365 100% Euro Soccer Bonus, where you could earn a bonus of up to 100% on your returns on pre-match accumulator bets.

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Nigel de Jong says he does not regret his horror challenge on Spain’s Xabi Alonso in the World Cup final.

The Manchester City midfielder caught Alonso in the chest with a high tackle in the showpiece game in South Africa, an offence for which referee Howard Webb has since admitted he should have sent him off.

However, De Jong is quoted in the Sunday Mirror as saying: “I don’t regret anything. I never intended to hurt him.

“And after such a great World Cup I came back to the dressing room of Manchester City as a different player. Well, that’s how it felt.

“I had just played in the final of the World Cup. It gives you a different status.

“The lads at City said they were impressed with the Dutch team’s performances out there in South Africa. That was really nice.”

De Jong is the subject of one of bet365′s special markets. Will Howard Webb have cause to send off the Dutchman the next time they share a pitch?

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Marc-Antoine Fortune insists West Brom are in a much better position to avoid relegation than they were two years ago.

Fortune re-signed for the club on Friday after spending time there on loan during their disappointing 2008/09 season in the top-flight.

We have new players now and we’re ready.

Marc-Antoine Fortune

He said that the team stood a better chance of avoiding relegation this time around.

West Brom are 2.10 to be relegated from the Premier League this season while Blackpool remain fancied at 1.33 to make an instant return to the Championship.

“We know the mistakes we made,” Fortune said.

“We have new players now and we’re ready. It will be difficult but if we don’t give up we’ll be okay.”

Fortune says one of the main reasons for his confidence is head coach Roberto Di Matteo and his tougher training regime.

“The gaffer has a different way of managing the team (to Tony Mowbray),” he said.

“I’ve only been here for one week, but I can see that the way we train and the way the manager wants to play is different.

“We have to be at 100% every training session. If we train hard like that we can be ready for every game.

“We also know that we have to be good defensively. We made mistakes in the past that we have to avoid now.”

Midfielder Paul Scharner, a veteran of five Premier League seasons with Wigan, said that avoiding relegation is as much mental as it is physical.

On West Brom’s last season in the Premier League, he said: “Maybe the belief was missing.

“Most of the small teams, they don’t believe that they can get something out of the big stages.

Scharner added that he hoped to bring more mental strength to the club.

“To stay in the division it’s one of the biggest points,” he said.

“It’s time to roll up our sleeves and fight to stay in the league.”

Di Matteo said that Fortune and Scharner will add to the top-flight know-how in his squad.

“They will bring quality to our team, and some experience as well,” he said.

“They have both played in the Premiership before.

“We were looking to strengthen down the spine of our team, and I think with these two players we have managed to do that.”

The Baggies are next in action on Saturday 11th September when they host Tottenham. Full Time Result betting has West Brom at 3.75 to pick up all three points, Spurs are on offer at 1.90 while the draw is 3.25.

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Frank Lampard has dismissed suggestions Chelsea’s squad is past it – and is adamant there is more to come from the Barclays Premier League champions.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men have started the new campaign the way they finished the last one with three successive victories, including 6-0 demolitions of both West Brom and Wigan while they are yet to concede a goal.

Much has been made of the age of the Blues’ senior men, such as Lampard, 32, captain John Terry, 29, and striker Didier Drogba, who will be 33 in March.

However, England midfielder Lampard – who is currently sidelined by a hernia problem which forced him out of tonight’s opening Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley (England 1.25, Bulgaria 12.00, draw 5.50 Full Time Result) – rejects any suggestions the Chelsea players are over the hill.

Speaking to the October edition of the club’s official magazine, Lampard declared: “It is a load of rubbish when I hear talk about there only being one or two years left in our spine. This has been going on for a year or so.

Every year I set my goals again, I don’t lose any ambition or drive.

Frank Lampard

“Sometimes that is mind games from other managers or press talk and we proved them wrong last year.

“We have got players here who are experienced and you can’t buy experience in football – look at Didier, he is a specimen and he will overpower any 24 or 25-year-old.

“People have been waxing lyrical about Paul Scholes, and rightly so, because if you take him out of the United team now, they will want to replace him and they probably won’t be able to.”

Lampard may have a trophy cabinet full of honours, but the former West Ham trainee maintains he is hungry for even more success.

“Every year I set my goals again, I don’t lose any ambition or drive,” Lampard insisted.

“I would love to win the Champions League one day, but I would love to win more Premier League titles as well, so it’s quite easy to self-motivate.

“I think also that, the older you get, the more you appreciate what you have got as a footballer.

“I think it’s one of my strong points that I always want to do more because you don’t play forever.

“If I can keep my level up to the way I am playing now I believe I can go on playing for many more years.”

With 14 goals from the opening three Premier League matches, things are certainly going to plan for Chelsea, who saw experienced midfielders Joe Cole and Michael Ballack leave the club on free transfers during the summer.

“I think our game feels more natural now – you can see that from the way we finished last season and started this one,” Lampard reflected.

“Don’t get me wrong, we had difficult moments last season when it wasn’t flowing, but it became more natural to us and after winning the Double and celebrating that, I think we came back here in the summer wanting to step up again to another level.”

Lampard paid tribute to Ancelotti, who delivered the club a historic Double in his first season.

“The manager is very involved – his method, his training, his personality and his calmness is something the players have related to more and more over the last year or so and that’s making us stronger as a unit,” the midfielder said.

You can back Chelsea to win the Premier League 2010/11 at odds of 2.20, while it’s 6.00 for the Blues to win the UEFA Champions League in 2011.

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Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has backed new signing Franco Di Santo to succeed in the Premier League despite the striker so far struggling to establish himself in England.

The Brazil Under-20 international joined the Latics on a three-year deal from Chelsea minutes before the transfer deadline closed on Tuesday.

It is important that from all the young players we are developing here we get rewards.

Roberto Martinez

His permanent move came as a surprise but Martinez said it benefited the Latics as he now had a player to work with long-term rather than just for one season.

“It is exciting because in any loan situation you do not have the bigger picture and the long-term ambition,” said the Spaniard.

“It is not just a matter of getting him up to speed and then losing at the end of a 12-month period.

“It is important that from all the young players we are developing here we get rewards.

“To have Franco here as a permanent player is a great signing for us as we can really focus on his development and fulfilling his potential so Wigan can get the rewards.

“It was a clear statement that we wanted the player for the long run to make sure he can have the best years of his career at Wigan.”

Di Santo signed for Chelsea in 2008 but made just 16 appearances for the London side and never started a game.

He went on loan to Blackburn last season, playing 22 times in the Barclays Premier League and scoring just once.

But Martinez said rather than being put off by that apparent failure to nail down a first-team place, he was encouraged by it.

“His spell at Blackburn was probably the reason why we were so certain about him,” added the Wigan manager.

“He needed that period as a young player. When you go into the Premier League the first 20 games are huge in terms of experience and knowing what to expect and preparing yourself for the next chapter.

“It is not about how he did in that chapter it is about how he matured and found a way to help his team.

“I just feel now he is ready to go into the Premier League and be himself and you only do that from experiences.

He is desperate to enjoy his football and be settled.

Roberto Martinez

“The hardest thing for a striker of the type of Franco is to have Premier League experience.

“For me the time he had at Blackburn was the final push to make the decision to sign him permanently.

“He now has 20-odd games in the Premier League and comes here as someone desperate to earn his place and be himself.

“If you speak with him he is desperate to enjoy his football and be settled.”

The Latics’ are next in action on the 11th September when they host Sunderland, Full Time Result betting has Wigan at 2.30 to get the win, Sunderland can be backed at 2.87 while the draw is 3.25.

Wigan are currently 2.00 to be relegated this season.

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