£34.5m Tottenham star alongside Arsenal player as top five Premier League players in his position, says pundit

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Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Darren Bent believes one Spurs star, in particular, is the top five best in his position in the Premier League.

Ange Postecoglou’s first season at Tottenham Hotspur went about as well as the fans of the North London club could have expected with the club finishing fifth in the Premier League table.

After a great start to the season, with the North London club briefly spending time at the top of the league table, the second half of the season has been more realistic with the club battling with injury problems.

Whether it’s in their defence or attack, Spurs have had to deal with a myriad of injury problems and there’s been one absentee, in particular, who has been described as the top five best in his position in the division.

Bent on Spurs star

Speaking on talkSPORT, former Tottenham striker Darren Bent believes that defender Micky Van de Ven is top five defenders in the country after a brilliant debut season in the capital.

“He is up there,” Bent said when asked if Van de Ven is in the top five. “I would say he is. Off the top of my head, when it comes to centre-halves, I am thinking, Virgil (Van Dijk), (William) Saliba, Ruben Dias and then it’s like. It’s a good list to choose from, yeah. Those three for me for me would be.”

After a superb start in North London, a rather serious hamstring injury that the Dutch defender suffered during the topsy turvy 4-1 defeat to Chelsea, has meant he has been absent throughout.

He has started 27 games out of a possible 38 for Spurs this campaign but that injury put a halt to his superb progress in the first team.

Postecoglou’s praise of the Dutchman

Unsurprisingly, Postecoglou looks to be a big fan of the Dutch defender. After Van de Ven netted against Burnley, the Australian was keen to heap the praise on the speedy defender.

“Yes, Micky’s goal was decent, both goals were very good,” Postecoglou told Spurs’ official website. “Micky had one year in the Bundesliga, he’s come into the Premier League and hasn’t missed a beat.

“He’s grown as a person, as a player, even with his injury problems, he’s just come back. Today, credit to him… him and Cuti in particular through this tough spell have stood up and wanted to make an impact.”