Tottenham have confirmed that an agreement is in place to bring Holland international Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid to White Hart Lane.

Spurs only emerged as contenders to sign the midfielder a few hours before Tuesday's transfer deadline and it was initially unclear whether they had been able to conclude a deal in time.

It was understood that Tottenham had missed the cut-off point to finalise the paperwork and requested special dispensation from the Premier League to sign Van der Vaart.

A statement has now been released on the club's official website to clear up the confusion and announce that the move has been approved.

And the Premier League said in a statement: "The Premier League can confirm the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart's registration from Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur."

Van der Vaart, who has scored 16 goals in 83 appearances for Holland, is thought to have joined for a fee of around £8million.

No Bayern bid

Madrid earlier denied Harry Redknapp's assertion that the player was subject of an £18million bid from Bayern Munich, whilst confirming they had met the deadline for Van der Vaart's sale.

Sporting director Miguel Pardeza told his club's official website: "Real Madrid met all the deadlines regarding the transfer of Van der Vaart.

"It's now up to the Premier League to accept the signing so that we can make it official.

"It is absolutely false that Real Madrid received a 21million euro offer from Bayern Munich for Van der Vaart.

"In fact, the German team never showed an interest to sign the player, so the allegations made in England have greatly surprised us."