The World Cup star, who was available on a free transfer from Barcelona, met Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to talk about a possible deal.

Levy flew to Spain to try and convince him his future lay in the Premiership.

Rivaldo, 30, who finally decided to sign for Milan over the weekend, was suitably impressed with the chairman's efforts that he thanked Levy for making such a determined bid.

Rivaldo said: "I was very excited about the possibility of playing for Spurs and in England. I would like to thank the club for their efforts in trying to sign me."

Spurs manager Glenn Hoddle, who worked alongside Levy in trying to persuade Rivaldo to come to White Hart Lane, paid tribute to the chairman's work.

He said it highlighted the nature of the club's ambition to try and sign the world's top stars.

"We were close to getting him and I know that Daniel put in a supreme effort on our behalf," Hoddle told the Evening Standard.

"This illustrates the high nature of our ambition and the fact that we prefer to operate away from the spotlight.

"It goes without saying that a player of Rivaldo's quality would have been a major boost to our squad.

"There are not many players of that class in the world game so, when the chance of signing was there, we had to move heaven and earth to try and bring him here.

"Milan pushed the boat out to extortionate money to get him and they made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

"We were pipped to the post but it shows we're going in the right direction."

"Unfortunately it didn't happen this time but the search goes on.

"People keep telling us we need a forward but they are being naive if they think we don't already appreciate that fact.

"We are well served in defence and midfield with possibly the best squad that this club has seen for some time."

Hoddle also revealed that Rivaldo wrote him a letter outlining why he chose not to join Tottenham.

Speaking after his team's 4-0 friendly win at Crystal Palace on Wednesday, Hoddle said: "We came so close to getting Rivaldo and I thought it was a touch of class for him to send us a terrific letter explaining his decision.

"I've never had that before when I've just missed out on a player.

"We were pipped to the post but it shows we're going in the right direction. It's 'have a go at Tottenham' time but we're not the only club not signing players."

Spurs midfielder Tim Sherwood was fined about �30,000 this week for publicly criticising the club's transfer policy.