Jamie Redknapp thinks Tottenham Hotspur have a player who is just as good as William Saliba

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Tottenham Hotspur have moved up into the Premier League’s top four after beating Nottingham Forest 3-1 on Sunday evening.

Tottenham drew 1-1 at West Ham United, failing to build on an early goal.

Fans may have feared a repeat performance on Sunday as Murillo’s own goal put Tottenham in front before Chris Wood levelled it up.

Spurs completely lost control of the game for the final 15 minutes of the first half and had to come out a much improved side in the second half.

Ange Postecoglou made two changes at the break as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur came on and Tottenham looked much better for it.

Micky van de Ven leathered a thunderous strike into the net to make it 2-1 and Pedro Porro added number three to secure a huge victory.

Spurs saw Aston Villa drop points at home to Brentford on Saturday and Tottenham took full advantage with a big win.

Jamie Redknapp hails Tottenham Hotspur star

Van de Ven stole the show with that powerful goal but his defending was outstanding too.

The Dutchman’s blazing speed has been a key feature of Tottenham’s back line this season.

That pace to deal with counter attacks has helped Tottenham play higher up the pitch and leave big spaces at the back.

There can’t be many players in the Premier League who could outrun Van de Ven and he has now been hailed by Jamie Redknapp.

Former Tottenham ace Redknapp told Sky Sports (07/04, 8:10pm) that he thinks Van de Ven is simply ‘fabulous’.

Redknapp praised Van de Ven’s pace and suggested that he is just as good as Arsenal centre back William Saliba.

Redknapp even feels that Van de Ven could go on to emulate Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, believing that the Reds star wasn’t as good as Van de Ven at 22.

“He’s a fabulous player,” said Redknapp. “He’s as quick as lightning, great left foot… there’s not many players, I can’t think of, in world football that are better than him at what he does. Arsenal fans will look at Saliba, who’s a great young defender as well, but I think this guy is equally as good, he’s got everything going for him.”

“You could see the difference when Spurs lost him, when he had his hamstring injuries. If he stays injury-free, there’s no reason why he can’t almost emulate what Virgil van Dijk has done. When Virgil was a similar age, Virgil wasn’t producing the performances that he is right now. He’s only going to get better, as long as he doesn’t get too many injuries along the way because that can affect the hamstring and the speed that he’s got, but he’s a top player, he really is,” he added.

Van de Ven becoming Tottenham’s best signing in a long time

Tottenham needed a left-footed centre back under Antonio Conte.

There were links to Josko Gvardiol, Alessandro Bastoni and Pau Torres before Spurs ended up taking Clement Lenglet on loan.

Lenglet just wasn’t good enough or quick enough and that resulted in Tottenham moving for Van de Ven instead.

Tottenham struck a deal worth up to £43million for Van de Ven and that deal is already looking like a bargain.

Van de Ven is big, strong, comfortable on the ball and easily one of the fastest centre backs around.

When you think about how the left-sided centre back market has exploded in recent times, Tottenham appear to have landed an absolute steal in Van de Ven, but he must keep developing and keep improving in this Spurs back line.