Source: Evening Standard

At the age of 16, Niko Kranjcar had his sights set on a transfer to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Yet the Croatian midfielder has felt at home to such a degree during his first six months at Tottenham that he now dreams of spending the rest of his career at White Hart Lane.

A £2.5million buy from Portsmouth last summer, Kranjcar's addition to Spurs' squad has proved one of the cleverest signings of the season.

The 25-year-old has played an important role in the club's run to the FA Cup quarter-finals and their battle to finish fourth in the Premier League and clinch a place in next season's Champions League.

The presence of compatriots Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka has helped him adapt to life in north London but it is the potential of the Spurs squad that convinces Kranjcar he has discovered his ideal environment.

Kranjcar will attempt to maintain his excellent form this evening, when Spurs face Cup specialists Fulham in a sixth-round replay at White Hart Lane. The winners will face a trip to Wembley, where Kranjcar's former club, Portsmouth, await in the semi-finals.

Tonight's fixture is the beginning of a sequence that could define Spurs' season. Within the next month, Harry Redknapp's team must deal with a possible FA Cup semi-final and fixtures against Chelsea and Manchester United, while failure to overcome

Fulham tonight will ensure Spurs' League derby against Arsenal takes place on 10 April.

Having won the FA Cup with Pompey in 2008, Kranjcar understands the confidence which can be derived from such success. Should he repeat that achievement this year, Kranjcar believes it would be a significant moment in the development of this squad. “If I stay at Spurs for the whole of my career, then I will be a happy footballer,” said Kranjcar. “I am playing for a big club, especially appreciated in England. You always want to achieve the most you can and my goals are set for the highest standards but we've proved this season we're a big team.

“If we could win the FA Cup this year, it would give us a lot of confidence that we could claim more major trophies.

“Once you get the feeling of winning the FA Cup, you want to win it again, achieve even bigger goals and reach even higher. From my experience, winning an important competition makes you try to be better and try to achieve it again.

“The goal for this club is to qualify regularly for the Champions League. There are new projects for the future, such as building the new stadium, so we want to establish ourselves.

“With the history Spurs have, this is what we want to try to achieve and now we believe we have the quality to try to push on.

“Our recent results have given us massive self-belief because we've won games despite having a lot of injuries. We've said since the start of the season that we have one of the best squads and now we are proving it.

“Our main focus is this next month and a half, to try to reach the massive goal of getting into the top four, which hasn't been achieved since 1990, and trying to win the FA Cup.”

Kranjcar became a pivotal player at Spurs soon after his arrival but his value to the team has increased recently, as several key men have been absent due to injury.

Club captain Ledley King and winger Aaron Lennon have missed a number of matches, while playmaker Modric was sidelined for four months earlier in the campaign and fellow midfielders Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas, as well as top scorer Jermain Defoe, have also missed out.

Luckily for Redknapp, Kranjcar believes he is in the form of his life but the prospect of a summer of relaxation awaits the Croat after two more months of sinew-straining effort.

It is a break Kranjcar would rather not have, however. Croatia's failure to qualify for the World Cup is still a painful recollection for the former Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split player, who represented his country in the 2006 World Cup and at Euro 2008.

What is particularly frustrating for Kranjcar is that he will miss the competition when he feels at the top of his game. “This season has been the best of my career but it's really hard not to be going to South Africa, especially as we are used to playing in the big tournaments,” he said.

“I will watch some of the games but I certainly won't be in front of the TV all the time. It's a massive blow and I hope I never miss another major tournament between now and the end of my career.

“As it builds up to the World Cup, you start to think you should be training and preparing for it but that is not the case this year.

“You wish your team-mates well and talk about the experiences you've had at these tournaments because it's something special and I hope they all go well.”

Since moving to Spurs, Kranjcar has been active in his support of the club's charity arm, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. One Spurs player usually visits the local area each week to support the Foundation. Kranjcar added: “It's important to give back to the community and to charities as well. We always want to give back to the fans, especially the kids who look to us as role models.”

The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation has reached the landmark of creating one million life-changing opportunities, achieved over the last four years, for people of all ages in the community. The Foundation uses sport and, in particular football, as a vehicle to create life-changing opportunities for children, groups and individuals within our communities.