Speaking exclusively to Sunday Mirror Sport from Schalke’s winter training camp in Qatar, the German Under-21 captain said: “Tottenham have got some big aims that I want to help them achieve.
“The club has really progressed and they are establishing themselves as a top-four team.
“In the future, and if the players stick around, then of course Tottenham can challenge for the title,” Holtby added. “I’m not predicting it will definitely happen, but it is certainly something we can aim for. I have big goals and I want to win trophies with Tottenham.
“Tottenham is the whole package, I am convinced of that after speaking to the manager Andre Villas-Boas and chairman Daniel Levy.
“The club, the team and the infrastructure are all superb. It’s a quality set-up. That’s where Tottenham should be, up the top and I’m so excited that I will be a part of it.
“If you are asking me who the exciting Spurs players are, then I would have to name the whole team because it’s full of stars.
“To play with and compete with these guys will improve my game, for sure.”
“I was a bit young to properly remember Jurgen Klinsmann at Tottenham, but I know he is a legend of the club,” said Holtby.
“He joined the club with big expectations and everybody thought ‘he’s a German diver’. But he scored his first goal, made the dive in celebration and that made him very popular .
“He’s a legend in Germany and at Tottenham, so it’s great to be joining the club he played for.
“I know Steffen Freund from his time working with the German national set-up.
“We’ve had conversations and it will be good to work with him. It will also be nice to have another German lad at the club, even though I consider myself half-English.
“It shouldn’t be a problem for me to adapt. My dad’s sister, his brother and my nan live in Bedford. My cousin’s family are big Tottenham fans. I have a lot of family in the area, which will make me more comfortable.
“There are also the German lads, Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker, at Woolwich and that will make the rivalry even better for me.
“The north London derby is already something I am looking forward to – and with those German boys it will be extra-special.”