Ramon Vega believes that Tottenham's Champions League qualification will eventually put Chelsea in the shade and establish Spurs as London's Premier football club.

The Swiss defender spent three years at White Hart Lane in the nineties and collected a League Cup winner’s medal for his efforts.

During that time Spurs and Chelsea were never in contention for the Premiership title but the arrival of Roman Abramovich turned things around at Stamford Bridge.

Finishing fourth in last season's Premiership has given Spurs the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League for the first time with Vega confident that his old club are on the verge of something big.

“Spurs have always been one of the major clubs in England but they've fallen behind Chelsea in recent years,” he admitted. “But in terms of history and support they are ahead of Chelsea and I see that throughout London.

“The minute that they qualified for the Champions League all of the Spurs supporters came out of hiding. You can see the strength of the club and the pull of their history.

“Hopefully playing in the Champions League will help establish Spurs as a major force

“It's a huge achievement winning that Champions League spot and it's all down to Harry Redknapp. He's always did well putting teams together, now he's shown that he can do that at the highest level.

“I'm looking forward to next season, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs all in the Champions League Londoners will be watching the best football in Europe.”

Before Redknapp gets around to preparing for the new season he'll be able to assess how his players perform in the World Cup.

Five Spurs stars are in Fabio Capello's squad with Vega hoping that Ledley King can cap an incredible season by starting against the USA on Saturday.

“Ledley has the skills to compliment John Terry,” Vega added. “He is a skillful centre-half but has the game to play in midfield as well.

“The important decision to be made is who will create the best partnership with Terry and who is most suited to playing against the USA. On those grounds I'd pick Ledley ahead of anyone else.

“He is coming into the tournament on the back of a terrific season qualifying for the Champions League. He was an apprentice at Spurs alongside Sol Campbell when I was at the club and I'm delighted for him.

“He's suffered injuries throughout his career but playing in the World Cup is a great reward.

“I think he'll get the vote from Fabio Capello but if it's Jamie Carragher that's selected England will still have a strong side, that's one of the reasons that I think they'll go far in the competition.

“There's a lot of depth and options in the squad and you need that over a tournament that last for a month.

“I expect the usual suspects will be involved by the time that the tournament reaches the semi-finals but I think that teams like the Ivory Coast and the USA are capable of surprises earlier on.

“I'm looking forward to the games getting underway and feel that England are equipped to do very well but it's hard to see beyond Spain and Brazil as potential winners.”

Interview courtesy of Joe McHugh at Video Celts